Gateway, Tangier
- Artist
- Henry Ossawa Tanner, American, 1859–1937
- Date
- c.1912
- Material
- Oil on canvas
- Classification
- Paintings
- Current Location
- On View, Gallery 335
- Dimensions
- 18 7/16 × 15 5/16 in. (46.8 × 38.9 cm)
framed (sight): 26 1/2 × 23 1/4 in. (67.3 × 59.1 cm) - Credit Line
- Friends Endowment Fund, Museum Minority Artists Purchase Fund, and the Judy Glick Fund
- Rights
- Contact Us
- Object Number
- 33:2005
NOTES
The blue tones and loose brushwork of this painting typify Henry Ossawa Tanner's most successful experiments with color composition and application of paint. Tanner, an African American artist, traveled to the Mediterranean region four times, and these trips had a profound effect on his style and subject matter. During a 1912 trip to Tangier, Morocco, Tanner became fascinated with this gateway—the entrance to the casbah, or the historic city area and fortress—and he proceeded to paint the gateway from many perspectives and vantage points.
Provenance
by 1937 - 2003
Charles Hovey Pepper (1864-1950), Concord, MA; Brookline, MA, gift of the artist; Pepper's family, by inheritance [1]
2003/10/21 - 2005
Babcock Galleries, New York, NY, purchased at auction, William H. Bunch Auctions, Chadds Ford, PA, October 21, 2003 [2]
2005 -
Saint Louis Art Museum, purchased from Babcock Galleries [3]
Notes:
[1] The main source for this provenance is the information sheet from Babcock Galleries [SLAM document files]. Charles Hovey Pepper was a friend of Henry Ossawa Tanner, and he visited the artist in France in 1924. He owned at least two paintings by the artist. It is unknown when he acquired "Gateway, Tangier" from Tanner; however, Pepper's biographer indicates that while living in Concord, Massachusetts, he owned at least one work by Tanner. Since Pepper lived in Concord until 1933, it is possible that he acquired "Gateway, Tangier" before that date [Smith, Joseph Coburn. "Charles Hovey Pepper." Portland, Maine: The Southworth Anthoensen Press, 1945, p. 22].
[2] John Driscoll of Babcock Galleries indicated that he purchased the painting at the Bunch auction. He believed that Bunch never owned the painting, but only handled it for the descendants of Charles Hovey Pepper [email, March 4, 2005, SLAM document files].
[3] Minutes of the Collections Committee of the Board of Trustees, Saint Louis Art Museum, March 8, 2005.
Charles Hovey Pepper (1864-1950), Concord, MA; Brookline, MA, gift of the artist; Pepper's family, by inheritance [1]
2003/10/21 - 2005
Babcock Galleries, New York, NY, purchased at auction, William H. Bunch Auctions, Chadds Ford, PA, October 21, 2003 [2]
2005 -
Saint Louis Art Museum, purchased from Babcock Galleries [3]
Notes:
[1] The main source for this provenance is the information sheet from Babcock Galleries [SLAM document files]. Charles Hovey Pepper was a friend of Henry Ossawa Tanner, and he visited the artist in France in 1924. He owned at least two paintings by the artist. It is unknown when he acquired "Gateway, Tangier" from Tanner; however, Pepper's biographer indicates that while living in Concord, Massachusetts, he owned at least one work by Tanner. Since Pepper lived in Concord until 1933, it is possible that he acquired "Gateway, Tangier" before that date [Smith, Joseph Coburn. "Charles Hovey Pepper." Portland, Maine: The Southworth Anthoensen Press, 1945, p. 22].
[2] John Driscoll of Babcock Galleries indicated that he purchased the painting at the Bunch auction. He believed that Bunch never owned the painting, but only handled it for the descendants of Charles Hovey Pepper [email, March 4, 2005, SLAM document files].
[3] Minutes of the Collections Committee of the Board of Trustees, Saint Louis Art Museum, March 8, 2005.