Henry Bannarn

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Henry Wilmer "Mike" Bannarn (b. 1910 - d. 1965) was an African-American artist born in Wetumpka, Hughes County, Oklahoma on July 17, 1910. When he was still a child, the family moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota where he discovered his talent for art.

He worked as a Works Progress Administration artist for the Federal Art Project and taught art at the Harlem Community Art Center in New York City, where he was a noted contemporary, friend and partner of another famous African-American artist, Charles Alston, with whom he ran the Alston-Bannarn Harlem Art Workshop in Harlem/NYC, NY. He was intimately associated with the "Harlem Renaissance" of the 1930s, being considered as one of the movements preeminent contributors. [1] Although he is primarily known for his work in sculpture, he was equally skilled as a figurist and character artist in the various paint mediums, conte crayon, pastel, free form sketch, etc.

In 1941, he returned to Minnesota and entered a piece of sculpture in the Minnesota State Fair sculpture competition, where he was awarded the first prize. The much-honored artist had won a painting prize at the fair a decade earlier as well, representing one of the earliest achievements by an African-American artist in that states history.

He died on September 20, 1965 in Brooklyn, New York.

His works are represented in some of the most important collections in the US, such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Duke University Museum Of Art, the Smithsonian Institution, Dartmouth College's Hood Museum, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Minnesota Historical Society, Howard University Gallery of Art, Clark Atlanta University Art Galleries, etc. Very few Bannarn works exist in private hands.

At the April 26th, 2007 sale conducted by at Shannon's Fine Art Auctioneers, Milford, Connecticut, a Bannarn original oil titled "Modernist Exhibition" sold for $24,000 USD, achieving a price nearly tenfold it's pre-auction estimate of $2500-$3500. ^[1]. This is another example of a renowned Harlem Renaissance artist achieving record prices at auction in very recent years.

[edit] Exhibitions Of Note

Minnesota State Fair 1928 (Award), Minneapolis Institute of Art 1932 (prize), Harmon Foundation 1933, PAFA 1934/36, American Negro Exhibition 1940, Minnesota Artists Association Annual 1940 (Award), Minnesota State Fair 1941 (Award), Atlanta University 1943 (Award), Hanley Gallery St. Paul, MN 1945, Newton Gallery, 1945

[edit] Notable Contemporaries In The Art Fields Associated With Henry Bannarn

• Charles Alston- Partner, Alston-Bannarn Workshop, Harlem Community Art Center
• Bror Julias Olsson (B.J.O.) Nordfeldt- Instructor ^[2]
• George Oberteuffer- Teacher ^[3]
• Samuel Chatwood Burton- Teacher^[4]
• Jacob Lawrence- Student of Bannarn at the Harlem Art Workshop.

[edit] References