Centuries of Art @ Your Library - Freedom in Pigment: Henry O. Tanner's Life and Work February 18, 2008

Americas foremost African-American artist at the turn of the last century was Henry Ossawa Tanner, son of a minister who exhibited his work at the Paris Salon in 1894. A free illustrated lecture, Freedom in Pigment: Henry O Tanner's Life and Work, profiles this artist on Monday, February 18 at 7:30 p.m. in the Williamsburg Library Theatre, 515 Scotland Street. The lecture by Dr. Elizabeth L. O'Leary, Associate Curator of American Art at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, is presented as part of Centuries of Art @ Your Library, the partnership between Williamsburg Regional Library and This Century Art Gallery. A reception follows the free illustrated lecture.

Henry O. Tanner, who was born on the eve of the Civil War, achieved both national and international acclaim through religious imagery that served as a vehicle for artistic expression as well as a means for conveying his own spirituality. At a time when many Blacks were presented as grotesque caricatures or sentimental figures of rural poverty, Henry O. Tanner sought to represent his subjects with dignity. His most famous work, the one submitted to the Paris Salon, is The Banjo Lesson, currently in the collection of Hampton University.

This program has been organized by the Office of Statewide Partnerships of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, and is supported by the Paul Mellon Endowment. For more information on Centuries of Art @ Your Library, call the library at (757) 259-4070 or visit www.wrl.org/programs

Event submitted by Eventful.com on behalf of programs.