Welcome to a new episode of Appreciating Art Wednesday

The Thankful Poor (1894) by Henry Ossawa Tanner is one of the most moving and significant works of 19th-century American art.

Historical Context

Author: Henry Ossawa Tanner (1859–1937).
Title: The Thankful Poor.
Date: 1894.
Movement: Realism with a strong spiritual charge and Impressionist influence.
Current Location: Williamstown Art Museum (Massachusetts, USA).

Tanner was the first African American painter to achieve international recognition. At a time when racism severely limited the opportunities for Black artists in the United States, Tanner moved to Paris, where he was welcomed by artistic circles and was able to freely develop his talent. The Thankful Poor was painted shortly before he left the United States and depicts not only an intimate scene but also an act of dignifying African-American life, far removed from the racist stereotypes dominant in American art of the time.

Description and Visual Structure

The scene is simple but profoundly human:

An old man and a child (probably a grandfather and grandson) sit at the table before eating, bowing their heads in prayer.

The table is humble, with a pitcher of water, bread, and a few utensils.

Warm light enters from the left, bathing the figures in a golden glow that highlights their serenity and faith.

Composition:

Triangular: the bowed heads and clasped hands form a pyramidal structure that draws attention to the act of prayer.

Intimate perspective: the scene is seen from the height of the figures, inviting the viewer to "participate" in the moment.
Color palette: Earthy, golden, and brown tones evoke warmth, humility, and spirituality.
Use of chiaroscuro: Light symbolizes divine grace, while the dark surroundings suggest material hardship.

Interesting facts and details

Personal inspiration: Tanner was the son of a Methodist minister, and his mother had escaped slavery via the Underground Railroad. His art reflects this family-passed faith.
Influence of Rembrandt: Tanner admired Rembrandt and learned from him the symbolic use of light as a spiritual vehicle. Here, light not only illuminates, it blesses.
Universal theme: Although it depicts African Americans, the scene transcends race or social status: it is a universal portrait of gratitude and faith.
Break with racist art: While many painters of his time portrayed caricatures or comical scenes of Black life, Tanner displays dignity, intimacy, and spirituality.¹
Technique: soft brushstrokes and diffuse modeling, with echoes of French Impressionism, but without losing the sense of volume and solidity.

Meaning and Symbolism

Bread and water: Christian symbols of sustenance and spiritual purity.
The gesture of prayer: represents gratitude in adversity, a central theme in Protestant theology and the post-slavery African-American experience.
Light: emblem of divine grace that illuminates even material poverty.
The intergenerational bond: the elderly transmit faith and values to the child; a metaphor for the cultural and spiritual continuity of a people.

Aesthetic and Moral Reading

Tanner achieves what few artists of his time achieved:

Transforming a humble domestic scene into a sacred work without explicit religious symbols.
Elevating the everyday to the status of the transcendent.
Break racial prejudice by showing that true nobility lies in faith, not wealth.

Tanner's stylistic choice for his genre paintings breaks from the typical late 19th century derogatory caricatures of African American. Contemporary representations usually mocked African-American religious practice as tribal and superstitious, in contrast to a supposedly more advanced, introspective, and contemplative white religiosity ↩

Footnotes