Excerpt from
Webton Webley
Enc: 1101
June 08.2009
Professor: M. Cueto
Henry Tanner the Banjo Lesson 1893
shows
an elderly Black man taking time out to teach his grandson how to play the banjo
despite a long day working out in the fields. The man and the boy display love
and affection unconditionally. The painting captures the love and affection
between the man and the boy. It is clearly seen from the boy’s closeness to the
old man. The boy also sits on the lap of the old man carefully struming
the banjo under the patient gaze of his mentor. The display of patience
illustrates the bond between the two individuals in the painting. He tosses his
straw hat on the floor beside him clearly displaying the fact that he came in
from a long day out in the field, but takes a brief moment to administer lessons
to the boy intrigued to learn. Over a warm fire the old man helps to guide the
boy in playing the banjo by using one hand to select the desired melody from the
banjo. The boy displays his interest in learning to play the banjo by giving the
old man undivided attention. He pays close attention to the strings that he
selects by looking at his movement of the right hand. The boy imitates a strong
desire to learn how to play the banjo by imitating every move and instruction
given by the old man. Tanner’s detailed description of the old man with rugged
clothing and boots displays a laborer. Several rays from the evening sun engulf
the room revealing the setting of the room aspects like the well organized
dinner table illustrates that it is dinner time. The light publicizes the visual
images of the room. Also, the rough wood surface symbolizes the years of
disrepair and deterioration.
Work cited
"A guide to great art on the
internet." Artcyclopedia. 6 Jun 2009
<http://www.artcyclopedia.com/artists/tanner_henry_ossawa.html>.
"Henry Tanner." Google. 6 Jun 2009.
<http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=henry%20tanner&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wi>.
"Henry
Tanner." Wikipedia Web.8 Jun 2009.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Ossawa_Tanner>.
shows
an elderly Black man taking time out to teach his grandson how to play the banjo
despite a long day working out in the fields. The man and the boy display love
and affection unconditionally. The painting captures the love and affection
between the man and the boy. It is clearly seen from the boy’s closeness to the
old man. The boy also sits on the lap of the old man carefully struming
the banjo under the patient gaze of his mentor. The display of patience
illustrates the bond between the two individuals in the painting. He tosses his
straw hat on the floor beside him clearly displaying the fact that he came in
from a long day out in the field, but takes a brief moment to administer lessons
to the boy intrigued to learn. Over a warm fire the old man helps to guide the
boy in playing the banjo by using one hand to select the desired melody from the
banjo. The boy displays his interest in learning to play the banjo by giving the
old man undivided attention. He pays close attention to the strings that he
selects by looking at his movement of the right hand. The boy imitates a strong
desire to learn how to play the banjo by imitating every move and instruction
given by the old man. Tanner’s detailed description of the old man with rugged
clothing and boots displays a laborer. Several rays from the evening sun engulf
the room revealing the setting of the room aspects like the well organized
dinner table illustrates that it is dinner time. The light publicizes the visual
images of the room. Also, the rough wood surface symbolizes the years of
disrepair and deterioration.