America's first internationally renowned African-American artist, Henry Ossawa Tanner was born in Pittsburgh to a well-educated and devoutly religious family. When Henry was age 13, his father, the Reverend Benjamin Tucker Tanner, moved the family to Philadelphia.

With the support of his parents and inspiration from the art of the 1876 Philadelphia Exposition, he enrolled in the Pennsylvania Academy to study with Thomas Eakins who became a close friend.
Tanner briefly painted animals and was determined to become the "American Landseer" in response to the demand for animal portraits. Between 1886 and 1887 Tanner was an illustrator for Harper Brothers, a publishing firm willing to advance black artists ...