NEW YORK, NY.- On May 20, Bonhams sale of American Art in New York will offer Henry Ossawa Tanner’s stunning Return from the Cross (estimate: $100,000-150,000). Tanner was a groundbreaking African American artist at the turn of the twentieth century having achieved notable acclaim and international recognition. This rare and important biblical scene, painted circa 1934-35, is arguably one of the most resplendent and multidimensional works that Tanner painted in the final years of his life.

Henry Ossawa Tanner (1859-1937) was the first African American artist to have a major solo exhibition in the United States, the first to be inducted into the National Academy of Design, and decades after his passing, in 1996, the first to have his work acquired for the collection of The White House in Washington, D.C.

Bonhams American Art specialist Aaron Anderson said: “Return from the Cross is a triumph in execution that boldly exhibits Tanner's mastery of a unique painting technique that distinctly employed thick, textured applications of richly colored paint. The pure emotion that Tanner successfully imbued in his religious scenes resulted in paintings that remain universally captivating. His scarce number of works on the subject of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ are considered to be among Tanner’s best work.”

As was previously announced, Bonhams will offer works from The Estate of Yvonne de Chavigny Segerstrom in the American Art sale. Leading the group is Fairfield Porter's (1907-1975) Yawl in the Channel, a magnificent landscape painted in the final two years of his life. The work is estimated at $700,000-1,000,000.

Other key highlights in this sale are Milton Avery’s Sunflowers, a captivating and fresh still life of Avery’s mature style of the 1960s (estimate: $100,000-150,000); and John Singer Sargent’s portrait of Gardiner Greene Hammond, Jr. (estimate: $80,000-120,000). Distinguished by its extensive exhibition and publication history, this painting has been passed down by descent from the subject himself.