Artwork
The Good Shepherd
The Good Shepherd is an oil painting by the Realist artist Henry Ossawa Tanner. It dates from 1918 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
- Inscription
- Inscribed:lower left: H O TANNER
About this work
Technique & Style
As a painted canvas on a rigid board, the piece combines the traditional flexibility of oil paint with the structural stability of the composite backing.
Created in 1918, The Good Shepherd is an oil painting executed on a canvas support that is mounted to a particle board panel. The work measures 60.33 cm in height and 48.26 cm in width. As a painted canvas on a rigid board, the piece combines the traditional flexibility of oil paint with the structural stability of the composite backing.
This specific material configuration distinguishes it from works on stretched canvas alone, reflecting Tanner's approach to support selection during this period.
History & Provenance
Painted in 1918, the work is dated to that year by the artist.
The picture entered the collection of Thurlow Evans Tibbs, Jr., by 1989. Tibbs lent it to a touring exhibition of his collection that opened in January 1989, and it also appeared in a 1985 show at his gallery; the precise ownership status at the time of the 1985 exhibition is not recorded. Tibbs retained the painting until his death in 1997.
In 1996 it was given to the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, and in 2014 the Corcoran’s holdings were transferred to the National Gallery of Art, Washington, where the work is now held.
The painting is currently held by the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., having been acquired by the institution in 2014. Prior to this transfer, the work was part of the Corcoran Gallery of Art's collection, where it arrived as a gift in 1996 from Thurlow Evans Tibbs, Jr., who had owned the piece since at least 1952. The artwork's exhibition history includes a multi-year tour of the Tibbs collection that commenced in January 1989.
It was also displayed at Tibbs' gallery in 1985, although records do not definitively confirm whether the painting was on loan or formally part of the collection at that specific time.
Overview
Created circa 1918, The Good Shepherd is an oil painting executed on canvas that has been adhered to a particle board support. The work belongs to the realist tradition and presents a solitary figure overseeing a flock within a gently rolling countryside.
Subject & Meaning
At the center of the composition a lone shepherd attends to a group of sheep, suggesting themes of guidance and care. The pastoral setting, with its low stone wall and modest doorway, reinforces the notion of a quiet, protective environment.
Context
Tanner’s work often merged biblical or spiritual subjects with realistic settings, and The Good Shepherd continues this approach by placing a traditionally symbolic figure within a tangible, everyday landscape. The piece reflects his ongoing interest in the interplay between the sacred and the mundane.
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Artist & collection
Artist
Henry Ossawa Tanner was an American artist who spent much of his career in France.
