The Man Who Rented Boats

Henry Ossawa Tanner, born Pittsburgh, PA 1859-died Paris, France 1937 · n.d.

This spot in a Paris park where vendors rented toy boats reflects the charm that led Henry Ossawa Tanner to settle in Paris in 1891. In 1909, Tanner wrote that, “After having been in Paris a week, I [found] conditions so to my liking that I completely forgot that when I left New York I had made my plans to study in Rome.” (Mosby, Henry Ossawa Tanner, 1991) As in many of his studies, he sketched this scene in oil instead of pencil.