The Good Shepherd (Atlas Mountains, Morocco)

Media - 1983.95.198 - SAAM-1983.95.198_1 - 84188
Copied Henry Ossawa Tanner, The Good Shepherd (Atlas Mountains, Morocco), ca. 1930, oil on fiberboard, 29 7⁄8 x 36 in. (75.8 x 91.3 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Norman Robbins, 1983.95.198
Free to use

Artwork Details

Title
The Good Shepherd (Atlas Mountains, Morocco)
Artist
Date
ca. 1930
Location
Dimensions
29 7⁄8 x 36 in. (75.8 x 91.3 cm)
Markings
lower right corner in oil: H. O. Tanner frame verso upper left in pencil: 53 (underlined and crossed out)/69 (underlined) frame verso upper left in pencil: /NCFA 2b frame verso upper left in pencil: 33 (underlined) frame verso lower left in pencil: (line)/75 1/4 frame verso lower left in pencil: 37 1/4
Credit Line
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Norman Robbins
Mediums
Mediums Description
oil on fiberboard
Classifications
Keywords
  • Landscape
  • Animal — sheep
  • Occupation — farm — shepherd
  • Landscape — Morocco
  • Landscape — mountain — Atlas Mountains
  • Religion — New Testament — Good Shepherd
Object Number
1983.95.198
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1983.95.198

Artwork Description

In 1912, Henry Ossawa Tanner traveled to Morocco to see the Atlas Mountains. In this painting he downplayed the story in favor of the impressive landscape itself. Tanner’s son Jesse remembered that The Good Shepherd was his father’s favorite subject. The artist believed that “God needs us to help fight with him against evil and we need God to guide us” (Jesse Tanner in Mathews, Henry Ossawa Tanner, American Artist, 1969).