X-Rays And Infrared Reveal The Story Of The 1st Internationally Known Black Painter

https://www.npr.org/2021/09/07/ [login to see] /henry-tanner-black-artist
The French liked his work. In 1897 the government bought one of his pieces for the state collections. With that rare honor his reputation soared. Museums started buying Tanners. By 1900, when mass reproductions of Christ's portrait, and books on his life were circulating, curator Canterbury says, "Tanner was considered the leading European painter of religious scenes."