{"data":{"id":87643,"api_model":"artworks","api_link":"https:\/\/api.artic.edu\/api\/v1\/artworks\/87643","is_boosted":true,"title":"The Two Disciples at the Tomb","alt_titles":null,"thumbnail":{"lqip":"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhBAAFAPQAAB8aDzEbDCMbEDQjDzghDSUgGScgGzciEjQoGEgiBkApDEYqDVEzCls4DEA7J049IWhACWhDC2VSIYdcEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACH5BAAAAAAALAAAAAAEAAUAAAUR4IA8DkNAU5QoUhMIwHIYRQgAOw==","width":5269,"height":6440,"alt_text":"A work made of oil on canvas."},"main_reference_number":"1906.300","has_not_been_viewed_much":false,"boost_rank":null,"date_start":1906,"date_end":1906,"date_display":"c. 1906","date_qualifier_title":"c.","date_qualifier_id":60,"artist_display":"Henry Ossawa Tanner (American, 1859\u20131937)","place_of_origin":"Paris","description":"

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<\/em> depicts an event from the Gospel of Saint John in which Peter and John arrive at Christ\u2019s 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\u2019s 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 the 20th century. After studying at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Tanner expatriated to France in 1891 in an effort to escape the trenchant racism that limited his career in the United States.<\/p>\n","short_description":"Perhaps the most renowned American painter of religious works at the turn of the 20th century, Tanner moved to France in 1891 to escape the racism that limited his career. This painting depicts an event from the Gospel of Saint John in which Peter and John arrive at Christ\u2019s empty tomb. Peter looks down somberly, while John is transfixed, bathed in a golden light.","dimensions":"129.5 \u00d7 105.7 cm (51 \u00d7 41 7\/8 in.)","dimensions_detail":[{"depth":null,"width":105,"height":129,"diameter":null,"clarification":null}],"medium_display":"Oil on canvas","inscriptions":"Signed recto, bottom-left, on ground, in brown paint: \"H.O. TANNER\".","credit_line":"Robert A. Waller Fund","catalogue_display":null,"publication_history":"\"Award For Negro Artist,\" The Washington Post<\/em>, Oct. 18, 1906, 1.\n\n\"Sales,\" American Art News<\/em> 5, no. 1 (Oct. 20, 1906): 1.\n\n\"Chicago Art News,\" American Art News<\/em> 5, no. 2 (Oct. 27, 1906): 2.\n\n\"Tanner's Bible Pictures on View,\" The Advocate<\/em> (Charleston, West Virginia), Dec. 31, 1908, 6.\n\n\"Exhibition of American Paintings in Texas,\" Art and Progress<\/em> 1, no. 3 (Jan. 1910): 75.\n\n\"The Stickney Benefactions,\" Bulletin of the Art Institute of Chicago<\/em> 3, no. 3 (Jan. 1910): 34.\n\n\"Henry O. Tanner's Biblical Pictures,\" Fine Arts Journal<\/em> 24, no. 3 (Mar. 1911): 162 (ill.).\n\n\"Art Works Reproduced: Tanner Collection Exhibited at M Street High School,\" The Washington Herald<\/em>, Mar. 30, 1911.\n\n\"Notes,\" Bulletin of the Art Institute of Chicago<\/em> 7, no. 4 (Apr. 1914): 64.\n\n\"Again-A Free Ad for the Art Institute,\" Chicago Daily Tribune<\/em>, Oct. 10, 1915, B9.\n\nKaren Fisk, \"The Annual American Exhibition at the Art Institute of Chicago,\" The American Magazine of Art<\/em> 17, no. 12 (Dec. 1926): 624\u201325.\n\nFrederic J. Haskin, \"Answers to Questions,\" The Evening Star<\/em> (Washington, DC), May 25, 1938, A-10.\n\nAlbert G. Barnett, \"Paintings Now Hang Among World Famous Collection At A Century of Progress,\" The Chicago Defender<\/em>, Sept. 2, 1963: 16 (ill.).\n\nMarcia M. Mathews, \"Henry Ossawa Tanner, American Artist,\" The South Atlantic Quarterly<\/em> 65 (1966): 464 (ill.), 468.\n\nCharles H. Wesley, \"Henry O. Tanner The Artist,\" Negro History Bulletin<\/em> 31, no. 1 (Jan. 1968): 10.\n\nMarcia M. Mathews, Henry Ossawa Tanner: American Artist<\/em>, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1969, 130\u201331, 238.\n\nMarcia M. Mathews, \"The Art of Henry O. Tanner,\" Records of the Columbia Historical Society<\/em> 69\/70 (1969\/1970): 454 (ill.).\n\nHenry J. Seldis, \"'Black American Art': Crossing the Color Line,\" Los Angeles Times<\/em>, Oct. 10, 1976, 64.\n\nAlbert Boime, \"Henry Ossawa Tanner's Subversion of Genre,\" The Art Bulletin<\/em> 75, no. 3 (1993): 440, fig. 27 (ill.).\n\nRomare Bearden and Harry Henderson, A History of African-American Artists From 1792 to the Present<\/em>, New York: Pantheon Books, 1993, 98, 99 (ill.).\n\nMarcia M. Mathews, Henry Ossawa Tanner: American Artist<\/em>, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1994, 131, 132, 238 (ill.). \n\nAnne Rorimer, \"The Display of Twentieth-Century Art. Chicago, Art Institute,\" The Burlington Magazine<\/em>, Sept. 1994, 645.\n\nSusan F. Rossen, \u201cIntroduction,\u201d Art Institute of Chicago Museum Studies<\/em> 24, 2 (1999), 141.\n\nAndrea D. Barnwell, Kirsten P. Buick, Margaret Denny, Martin Fox, Jennifer Jankauskas, Dennis A. Narowcki, Mark Pascale, Kymberly N. Pinder, and Andrew J. Walker, \"A Portfolio of Works by African American Artists Continuing the Dialogue: A Work in Progress,\" Art Institute of Chicago Museum Studies<\/em> 24, no. 2 (1999): 186, 190.\n\nLisa Meyerowitz, \"The Negro in Art Week: Defining the \"New Negro\" Through Art Exhibition,\" African American Review<\/em> 31, no. 1 (1997): 88, n. 13. \n\n\"Americas Art Museums and the Broad Canvas of American Racial Thought,\" The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education<\/em>, no. 16 (1997): 49.\n\nAlan G. Artner, \"More than a Century of Collecting: African-American Artists Richly Covered at Institute,\" Chicago Tribune<\/em>, Feb. 27, 2003, ill.\n\nSusanna W. Gold, \"Review Essay: Modern Spirit,\" Modernism\/modernity<\/em> 19, no. 3 (2012): 603. \n\nKimberly Laurren Glenn, \u201cChicago and the Visual Art of the \u2018New Negro Movement,\u2019 1925\u20131940\u201d (PhD diss., University of Iowa, 2013), 94.\n\nPaintings at the Art Institute of Chicago: Highlights of the Collection<\/em> (Art Institute of Chicago\/Yale University Press, 2017), 90.\n\nJo-Ann Morgan, \"Review of \"Beholding Christ and Christianity in African American Art\" by James Romaine and Phoebe Wolfskill,\" Caa.reviews<\/em>, May 2, 2018, http:\/\/www.caareviews.org\/reviews\/3356<\/a>.\n\nJeffrey Richmond-Moll, \u201cHow a Photograph Solved an Art Mystery,\u201d Smithsonian<\/em>, last modified Nov. 9, 2018, http:\/\/smithsonianmag.com\/blogs\/archives-american-art\/2018\/11\/09\/how-photograph-solved-art-mystery<\/a>.\n\nJordan Carter and Sarah Kelly Oehler, \"Black Art Matters to This Prominent Museum,\" interview by Wendy Altschuler, Forbes<\/em>, June 8, 2020, https:\/\/forbes.com\/sites\/wendyaltschuler\/2020\/06\/08\/black-art-matters-to-this-prominent-museum<\/a> (ill.).\n\nMary Chappell, \"Denise Gardner named Art Institute board chair; believed to be 1st Black woman leader on major US museum board,\" The Chicago Sun-Times<\/em>, Apr. 13, 2021, https:\/\/chicago.suntimes.com\/entertainment-and-culture\/2021\/4\/13\/22382400\/new-art-institute-board-chairperson-believed-to-be-first-black-woman-leader-major-u-s-museum-board<\/a>.","exhibition_history":"Art Institute of Chicago, Nineteenth Annual Exhibition of Oil Paintings and Sculpture by American Artists<\/em>, Oct. 16\u2013Nov. 29, 1906, cat. 295.\n\nNew York, American Art Galleries, Religious Paintings by the Distinguished American Artist Mr. Henry O. Tanner<\/em>, Dec. 15\u201325, 1908, cat. 10.\n\nTexas, Public Library of Fort Worth, Exhibition of American Paintings<\/em>, 1910, no cat.\n\nArt Institute of Chicago, A Century of Progress: Exhibition of Paintings and Sculpture<\/em><\/a>, May 23\u2013Oct. 31, 1933, cat.\n\nArt Institute of Chicago, Half a Century of American Art<\/em>, Nov. 16, 1939\u2013Jan. 7, 1940, cat. 160, pl. IX (ill.).\n\nChicago, South Side Community Art Center, We Too Look at America<\/em>, May 1941, cat. 25.\n\nChicago, McCormick Place, Century of Negro Progress Exposition<\/em>, Aug. 16\u2013Sept. 2, 1963, no cat. no.\n\nWashington, DC, Howard University, Ten Afro\u2013American Artists of the Nineteenth Century<\/em>, Feb. 3\u2013Mar. 30, 1967, no cat. no., 23, 32 (ill.).\n\nNew York, Grand Central Art Galleries, Exhibition of Paintings: Henry Ossawa Tanner<\/em>, Nov. 16\u2013Dec. 7, 1967, no cat. no. (ill.). \n\nAtlanta, Spelman College, Henry O. Tanner, An Afro\u2013American Romantic Realist<\/em>, Mar. 30\u2013Apr. 30, 1969, cat. 7 (ill.) \n\nBerkeley, University of California Art Museum, The Hand and the Spirit: Religious Art in America 1770\u20131900<\/em>, June 27\u2013Aug. 6, 1972, cat. 104; Washington, DC, National Gallery of Art, Sep\u2013Oct, 1972; Dallas Museum of Art, Dec. 10, 1972\u2013Jan. 14, 1973; Indianapolis Museum of Art, Feb\u2013Apr. 1973. \n\nNew York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Selections of Nineteenth Century Afro\u2013American Art<\/em>, June 19\u2013Aug. 1, 1976, no cat. no.\n\nLos Angeles County Museum of Art, Two Centuries of Black American Art<\/em>, Sept. 30\u2013Nov. 21, 1976, cat. 54, 55 (ill.); Atlanta, High Museum of Art, Jan. 8\u2013Feb. 20, 1977; Dallas Museum of Art, Mar. 30\u2013May 15, 1977; Brooklyn Museum of Art, June 25\u2013Aug. 21, 1977.\n\nNew York, Whitney Museum of American Art, Turn\u2013of\u2013the\u2013Century America<\/em>, June 30\u2013Oct. 2, 1977, no cat. no., 193, fig. 22 (ill.); St. Louis Art Museum, Dec. 1, 1977\u2013Jan. 21, 1978; Seattle Art Museum, Feb. 2\u2013Mar. 12, 1978; California, Oakland Museum of Art, Apr. 4\u2013May 28,1978.\n\nPhiladelphia Museum of Art, Henry Ossawa Tanner<\/em>, Jan. 20\u2013Apr. 14, 1991, cat. 59,193 (ill.); Detroit Institute of Arts, May 12\u2013Aug. 4, 1991; Atlanta, High Museum of Art, Sept. 17\u2013Nov. 24, 1991; Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, M.H. De Young Memorial Museum, Dec. 14, 1991\u2013Mar. 1, 1992.\n\nKansas City, Nelson\u2013Atkins Museum of Art, Across Continents and Cultures: The Art and Life of Henry Ossawa Tanner<\/em>, June 25\u2013Aug. 20, 1995, no cat. no., 54 (ill.); Dallas Museum of Art, Sept. 12\u2013Dec. 31, 1995; Chicago, Terra Museum of American Art, Jan. 12\u2013May 5, 1996.\n\nPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Henry O. Tanner: Modern Spirit<\/em>, Jan. 27\u2013Apr. 15, 2012, no cat. no., 60, 61, 62, 129, 130, pl. 54 (ill.); Cincinnati Art Museum, May 26\u2013Sept. 9, 2012; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Oct. 21, 2012\u2013Jan. 13, 2013.","provenance_text":"The artist; sold to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1906.","edition":null,"publishing_verification_level":"Web Cataloged","internal_department_id":21,"fiscal_year":null,"fiscal_year_deaccession":null,"is_public_domain":true,"is_zoomable":true,"max_zoom_window_size":-1,"copyright_notice":null,"has_multimedia_resources":true,"has_educational_resources":false,"has_advanced_imaging":false,"colorfulness":50.2864,"color":{"h":41,"l":49,"s":86,"percentage":0.0015816528272044285,"population":14},"latitude":41.879322880713,"longitude":-87.621965222061,"latlon":"41.879322880713,-87.621965222061","is_on_view":true,"on_loan_display":null,"gallery_title":"Gallery 273","gallery_id":21434,"nomisma_id":null,"artwork_type_title":"Painting","artwork_type_id":1,"department_title":"Arts of the Americas","department_id":"PC-3","artist_id":25497,"artist_title":"Henry Ossawa Tanner","alt_artist_ids":[],"artist_ids":[25497],"artist_titles":["Henry Ossawa Tanner"],"category_ids":["PC-142","PC-830","PC-3"],"category_titles":["African American artists","African Diaspora","Arts of the Americas"],"term_titles":["oil on canvas","Post-Impressionism","oil painting","oil paint (paint)","Century of Progress","painting (image making)","painting","modern and contemporary art","emotions","religious scenes","men","world's fairs","Chicago World's Fairs","people","portraits"],"style_id":"TM-7547","style_title":"Post-Impressionism","alt_style_ids":[],"style_ids":["TM-7547"],"style_titles":["Post-Impressionism"],"classification_id":"TM-66","classification_title":"oil on canvas","alt_classification_ids":["TM-9","TM-155"],"classification_ids":["TM-66","TM-9","TM-155"],"classification_titles":["oil on canvas","painting","modern and contemporary art"],"subject_id":"TM-12169","alt_subject_ids":["TM-10122","TM-10125","TM-10121","TM-11299","TM-12176","TM-8810","TM-8658"],"subject_ids":["TM-12169","TM-10122","TM-10125","TM-10121","TM-11299","TM-12176","TM-8810","TM-8658"],"subject_titles":["Century of Progress","emotions","religious scenes","men","world's fairs","Chicago World's Fairs","people","portraits"],"material_id":"TM-2451","alt_material_ids":[],"material_ids":["TM-2451"],"material_titles":["oil paint (paint)"],"technique_id":"TM-4273","alt_technique_ids":["TM-3891"],"technique_ids":["TM-4273","TM-3891"],"technique_titles":["oil painting","painting (image making)"],"theme_titles":["African American artists","African Diaspora"],"image_id":"46ff0699-8905-a7d7-92f3-5210c2cc5e51","alt_image_ids":[],"document_ids":["c9f9d6c0-a964-6839-dd7e-0ed3ecdf7f7d"],"sound_ids":["c9f9d6c0-a964-6839-dd7e-0ed3ecdf7f7d"],"video_ids":[],"text_ids":[],"section_ids":[],"section_titles":[],"site_ids":[],"suggest_autocomplete_boosted":"The Two Disciples at the Tomb","suggest_autocomplete_all":[{"input":["1906.300"],"contexts":{"groupings":["accession"]}},{"input":["The Two Disciples at the Tomb"],"weight":7061,"contexts":{"groupings":["title"]}}],"source_updated_at":"2026-09-01T14:17:30-05:00","updated_at":"2026-09-02T15:20:50-05:00","timestamp":"2026-09-06T05:47:26-05:00"},"info":{"license_text":"The `description` field in this response is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Generic License (CC-By) and the Terms and Conditions of artic.edu. All other data in this response is licensed under a Creative Commons Zero (CC0) 1.0 designation and the Terms and Conditions of artic.edu.","license_links":["https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/publicdomain\/zero\/1.0\/","https:\/\/www.artic.edu\/terms"],"version":"1.15"},"config":{"iiif_url":"https:\/\/www.artic.edu\/iiif\/2","website_url":"http:\/\/www.artic.edu"}}