Henry Ossawa Tanner

This portrait of Henry Ossawa Tanner, an African American painter who achieved international renown, was painted by his friend and roommate Hermann Dudley Murphy during their student days in Paris. Although both received traditional artistic training at the city’s academies, they were particularly drawn to the modernist techniques of James McNeill Whistler. Murphy employed a thin, almost transparent application of paint and a muted palette of gray and green. The asymmetrical composition and colophon (or pictorial) signature likewise evoke Whistler’s style as well as their shared interest in Japanese art.