Henry Ossawa Tanner
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Moonlight, Walls of Tangiers by Henry Ossawa Tanner, 1913
Apparently a wealthy backer had been funding his trips east for years — it started with a magazine job illustrating the Holy Land — and Morocco kept turning up in his paintings long after. They say he did a whole run of these night scenes there.
Erisava: How is it this bright when it's supposed to be the middle of the night?
Daniel in the Lions' Den by Henry Ossawa Tanner, 1907
He moved to Paris partly to get away from how Black artists got treated back home, and this moody, almost colorless lighting became the thing he was known for there.
Erisava: Very depressing.
The Banjo Lesson by Henry Ossawa Tanner, 1893
He's said to have painted this partly to push back against the ugly minstrel-style caricatures of Black life that were common at the time - a quieter, more tender scene instead.
Erisava: It feels like he's caught mid-note, not posed for this.
The Seine by Henry Ossawa Tanner, 1902
According to what I've read, he'd left America for Paris and stayed for good — supposedly he said he couldn't fight prejudice and paint at the same time. This was apparently a view close to where he lived, done small.
Erisava: It's a lovely sky. I'm just not convinced a lovely sky is enough.