Henry Ossawa Tanner, The Banjo Lesson, 1893, Hampton University Museum. Gift to museum by Robert C. Ogden.[1]
The Banjo Lesson is an 1893 oil painting by African-American artist Henry Ossawa Tanner. It depicts two African-Americans in a humble domestic setting: an old black man is teaching a young boy – possibly his grandson – to play the banjo.
The painting was Tanner's first accepted entry into the Paris Salon, and has been held by Hampton University since 1894. The may be the first painting by an African American to paint other African Americans in a realistic, "genre" style of painting, in which scenes or events from everyday life are chosen for contemplation, including ordinary people engaged in common activities. The painting has elements of American Realism and of French Impressionism.[2]
The painting refuted widely held stereotypes held by white people in the United States in the 1890s, by presenting African Americans outside of those stereotypes. There was no caricature, no expectation that the subjects were trying to entertain, no hint that the people in the painting were dangerous, or fawning or lacking intelligence. This was radical for the era.
^"The Banjo Lesson". Hampton University Museum, Hampton University. In 1894, The Banjo Lesson was admitted into the Paris Salon, the most prestigious annual juried exhibition in the city. Robert C. Ogden, a philanthropist and chair of the then Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute's Board of Trustees, bought the painting and donated it to Hampton in November of 1894.
^Dr Richard Stemp (7 June 2020). "Day 81 – The Banjo Lesson". His style sits somewhere between Realism and Impressionism, the result of his training in the United States and his experiences in Paris, and it develops into something entirely original and personal...Realism – the lives of normal everyday people were dignified and given value
TheBanjoLesson is an 1893 oil painting by African-American artist Henry Ossawa Tanner. It depicts two African-Americans in a humble domestic setting:...
thebanjo for his grandson. The light sources are nearly identical to those in Tanner's BanjoLesson. A fireplace illuminates the right side of the picture...
with Tanner's other paintings from the 1890s including TheBanjoLesson (1893) and The Young Sabot Maker (1895). The work is based on photographs Tanner...
pp. 116–120. ISBN 978-0-8478-1346-9. Especially in the background, the brushwork of TheBanjoLesson is much looser, and strokes of color are more assertive...
to the work. In parts of America, this was more widely popular in the 1890s than was TheBanjoLesson, due to sensitivity over racial relations. The painting...
"TheBanjoLesson"... Charles McQuillen (3 January 2016). "Cross-Curricular Connect: TheBanjoLesson". [Note: this quote is about TheBanjoLesson; however...
The American Banjo Museum in Oklahoma City is dedicated to the history of thebanjo. The museum's exhibits document the rise of thebanjo from its arrival...
painting, The Man with the Blue Sweater. Looking at stylistic representation of light in the painting revealed a similarity to TheBanjoLesson. In that...
this was the painting for which he was most known, his "masterwork". Since his death in 1937, secular tastes have pushed TheBanjoLesson to the top place...
Performance in 2002. His first solo music album, The Crow: New Songs for the 5-String Banjo (2009) received the Grammy Award for Best Bluegrass Album. Steve...
The painting follows a theme Tanner used for his genre paintings, "age instructing youth", which can also be seen in The Bagpipe Lesson and TheBanjo...
of dim light subjects are common. Like this painting, some such as TheBanjoLesson and Nicodemus visiting Jesus feature multiple lights. Viewers can look...
Woodruff, TheBanjo Player". Smart History, the Center for Public Art History. Dr. Leo G. Mazow; Dr. Beth Harris. Hale Woodruff, TheBanjo Player. Smart...
– April 26, 1901) was an American physician and the first woman to be licensed as a physician in the U.S. state of Alabama. Johnson was born Halle Tanner...
African-American art organized by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA). It "received greater visibility and validation from the mainstream art world than...
attend the school. Tanner would be famous for painting two images of African Americans, different for portraying them with dignity. These were TheBanjo Lesson...
bluegrass banjo. He describes his playing as "Scruggs-style and Don Reno." He currently resides in Carmel, Indiana. Jessie started banjolessons in 2002...
offering guitar and banjolessons in a communal teaching style and hosting performances by well-known folk musicians. Currently the school has an enrollment...
work, TheBanjoLesson. Also in 1893, Philadelphia high school student Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller created an art project that was included in The World's...
the Virginia Minstrels, Sweeney gave Whitlock a few banjolessons around this time. In colonial America thebanjo was known as an instrument of "the lower...
clergyman and editor. He served as a bishop in the African Methodist Episcopal Church from 1886, and founded The Christian Recorder, an influential African...
proceeded to launch the following schools: ArtistWorks Jazz & More Guitar Lessons with Andreas Oberg in June 2009 ArtistWorks BanjoLessons with Tony Trischka...
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