1906
oil
canvas
From the collection of Art Institute of Chicago
The Two Disciples at the Tomb is a 1906 oil by Henry Ossawa Tanner, a American Impressionism work, held at Art Institute of Chicago.
The painting shows two men standing in front of a tomb. They seem to be looking at something inside. The men are Peter and John, and they look very different: one is somber, the other is amazed. The artist paid attention to the expressions on their faces. This makes the scene feel more personal and quiet. The light on John's face is especially interesting, it's like a warm glow. You can see similar use of light and shadow in the technique of chiaroscuro.
Working in Paris, Henry Ossawa Tanner grounded his portrayal of a biblical scene in the thoughtful, individual expressions of the figures. The Two Disciples at the Tomb depicts an event from the Gospel of Saint John in which Peter and John arrive at Christ’s empty tomb. The bearded Peter looks downward with a somber gaze, but John appears transfixed, his face bathed in a golden light that signifies the presence of Christ’s spirit. The son of a prominent minister of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, Tanner was perhaps the most renowned American painter of religious works at the turn of…
Art Institute of Chicago, Nineteenth Annual Exhibition of Oil Paintings and Sculpture by American Artists , Oct. 16–Nov. 29, 1906, cat. 295. New York, American Art Galleries, Religious Paintings by the Distinguished American Artist Mr. Henry O. Tanner , Dec. 15–25, 1908, cat. 10. Texas, Public Library of Fort Worth, Exhibition of American Paintings , 1910, no cat. Art Institute of Chicago, Half a Century of American Art , Nov. 16, 1939–Jan. 7, 1940, cat. 160, pl. IX (ill.). Chicago, South Side Community Art Center, We Too Look at America , May 1941, cat. 25. Chicago, McCormick Place, Century…
"Award For Negro Artist," The Washington Post , Oct. 18, 1906, 1. "Sales," American Art News 5, no. 1 (Oct. 20, 1906): 1. "Chicago Art News," American Art News 5, no. 2 (Oct. 27, 1906): 2. "Tanner's Bible Pictures on View," The Advocate (Charleston, West Virginia), Dec. 31, 1908, 6. "Exhibition of American Paintings in Texas," Art and Progress 1, no. 3 (Jan. 1910): 75. "The Stickney Benefactions," Bulletin of the Art Institute of Chicago 3, no. 3 (Jan. 1910): 34. "Henry O. Tanner's Biblical Pictures," Fine Arts Journal 24, no. 3 (Mar. 1911): 162 (ill.). "Art Works Reproduced: Tanner…
Read the full account in the museum source.
Henry Ossawa Tanner (June 21, 1859 – May 25, 1937) was an American artist who spent much of his career in France.
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