Henry Ossawa Tanner: His Boyhood Dream Comes True

Henry Ossawa Tanner: His Boyhood Dream Comes True

Ringgold’s narrative screen-print, or serigraph, centers on the life of the celebrated African-American painter, Henry Ossawa Tanner (1859-1937). While the text surrounding the central image provides a straight-forward account of a moment in Tanner’s life, the image illustrates in vivid color a pivotal moment which the artist experienced as a child, when Tanner imagined his future as a painter while walking through a park with his father. Like the young Tanner, we see two distinct phases in the painter’s life depicted simultaneously: he is both an inspired boy standing beside his father and a successful painter working before his easel. As viewers, we are invited to engage simultaneously with history and imagine future possibilities.

Despite Ringgold’s modest forms and limited color palette, the production process behind this serigraph print requires thorough planning and precision. Master printmaker Curlee Raven Holton, who has worked with Ringgold on numerous prints, is responsible for the careful construction of the final print, as each color must be manually added using a separate screen. The lighter brown pigment used for the faces of both the older and younger versions of Tanner were applied to the paper simultaneously, just as Tanner experienced two phases of his life simultaneously in the moment Ringgold narrates and illustrates in this work.

Faith Ringgold

2010

Serigraph

Raven Edition Collection Press