Augusta Savage: Renaissance Woman On view May 3 – July 28, 2019

Selected PR Images

The New-York Historical Society presents the work of (1892-1962) in Augusta Savage: Renaissance Woman. Savage overcame poverty, racism, and sexual discrimination to become an instrumental artist, educator, and community organizer during the Harlem Renaissance. Yet her work is largely unknown today. The exhibition features more than 50 works of art and archival materials that explore Savage’s legacy through her own sculptures as well as the work of the emerging artists she inspired, including and Gwendolyn Knight. Organized by the Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens, where it was curated by Jeffreen M. Hayes, Ph.D., Augusta Savage: Renaissance Woman is coordinated at New-York Historical by Wendy N.E. Ikemoto, Ph.D., associate curator of American art.

Unidentified photographer Augusta Savage, 1930 Gelatin silver print, 6 x 4 in. Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, NYPL, Photographs and Prints Division, Augusta Savage Portrait Collection, 83-1053 Public domain

Augusta Savage moved to Harlem in 1921. After graduating from Cooper Union School of Art (having completed a 4-year program in 3 years) and studying abroad in Paris (1929–1931), Savage opened her own studio to offer free art classes to children and adults. She fought to create opportunities for artists in Harlem and became a beacon for the community.

Andrew Herman (active 1930s–1940s) Federal Art Project, Works Progress Administration Augusta Savage with her sculpture Realization, 1938 Gelatin silver print, 10 x 8 in. Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, NYPL, Photographs and Prints Division, Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations, 86-0036 Public domain

Savage built her artistic legacy upon the shoulders of earlier Black women sculptors like Mary Edmonia Lewis (1844–1907) and Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller (1877–1978). Her sculpture Realization (1938) continues the tradition of Lewis’ Hygeia (1872) and Fuller’s Spirit of Emancipation (1913) in characterizing freedom as an ongoing challenge.

Augusta Savage (1892–1962) Gamin, c. 1930 Painted plaster, 9¼ x 6 x 4 in. Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens, Jacksonville, Florida, Purchased with funds from the Morton R. Hirschberg Bequest, AP.2013.1.1 Public domain in practice

Gamin is one of Augusta Savage’s most recognizable sculptures. The artist identified the sitter as her nephew Ellis Ford. The portrait portrays the boy with a strong and contemplative gaze and in so doing challenges the dominant negative representations of Black people in the 1930s. Gamin helped Savage win a scholarship to Paris in 1929.

Augusta Savage (1892–1962) Gwendolyn Knight, 1934–35, recast 2001 Bronze, 18½ x 8½ x 9 in. Walter O. Evans Collection of African American Art Public domain in practice

Artist Gwendolyn Knight (1913–2005) was born in and grew up in New York. She attended Howard University but left school when the Great Depression hit. When she returned to New York, she studied with Savage, taught in Savage’s studio, and developed a friendship with the sculptor. This bronze portrait is a skillful rendering of the young Knight.

Augusta Savage (1892–1962) Laborer, 1934 Watercolor on paper, 15½ x 11¼ in. Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, NYPL, Arts and Artifacts Division, PA.X.063 Augusta Savage ©Art and Artifacts Division, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, The New York Public Library

Like most artists, Savage explored diverse media. This watercolor is a rare example of her ability to depict the body, as she typically produced sculpted portrait busts.

Augusta Savage (1892–1962) The Diving Boy, c. 1939 Bronze, 33¾ x 8 x 9¼ in. Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens, Jacksonville, Florida, Bequest of Ninah M. H. Cummer, C.0.602.1 Public domain in practice

The Diving Boy is an exceptional piece: it is one of the few full-sized sculptures by Savage that exist today. It was likely made around the time of Savage’s 1939 World’s Fair commission for Lift Every Voice and Sing and shares with it an emphasis on line and elongation of form. The sculpture typifies Savage's interest in combining realistic detail with powerful expressiveness.

Augusta Savage (1892–1962) Portrait of a Baby, 1942 Terracotta, 10 x 8½ x 8 in. Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery LLC, New York, NY Public domain

As a young girl in Florida, Augusta Savage sculpted farm animals from red clay dirt. She often recounted how her father, who was a minister, whipped her for making what he considered “graven images.” The terracotta used for this work recalls Savage’s first childhood forays into sculpture.

Andrew Herman (active 1930s–1940s) Federal Art Project, Works Progress Administration Augusta Savage with her sculpture Envy, c. 1937 Gelatin silver print, 10 x 8 in. Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, NYPL, Photographs and Prints Division, Art & Artists- Prophet, Nancy-Stull, Henry, 83-49-3 Box 6 Public domain

In 1937, Augusta Savage opened the Harlem Community Art Center with the support of the Works Progress Administration’s Federal Art Program. She served as its founding director until 1938, when she took a leave of absence to work on her 1939 New York World’s Fair commission.

Unidentified photographer Augusta Savage with Ernestine Rose, Roberta Bosley Hubert, and her sculpture James Weldon Johnson, 1939 Gelatin silver print, 8 x 9 in. Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, NYPL, Photographs and Prints Division, Augusta Savage Portrait Collection, 89-0006 Public domain

In 1939, Augusta Savage opened the first art gallery dedicated to the sale and exhibition of Black art. While it was not ultimately financially viable, the project demonstrated Savage’s deep commitment to the commercial support of Black artists.

Unidentified photographer Augusta Savage viewing two of her sculptures, Susie Q and Truckin, c. 1939 Gelatin silver print, 10 x 8 in. Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, NYPL, Photographs and Prints Division, Art & Artists- Prophet, Nancy-Stull, Henry, 92-0360 Box 6 Public domain

Savage expanded the scope of visual culture. Through her sculptures, she challenged dominant racial stereotypes. Through her work as a community organizer, activist, and Harlem Renaissance leader, she engineered new opportunities for Black artists.

Gwendolyn Knight (1913–2005) Untitled (Barbados), 1945 Oil on canvas board, 24 x 20 in. Courtesy of DC Moore Gallery, New York, The Jacob and Gwendolyn Lawrence Foundation © 2018 The Jacob and Gwendolyn Knight Lawrence Foundation, / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Knight studied with Savage in Harlem during the mid- 1930s. Through Savage, Knight received opportunities to work on the WPA Federal Art Project murals with Charles

Alston and teach at the Harlem Community Art Center. Knight said of her mentor: “By looking at her, I understood that I could be an artist if I wanted to be.”

Jacob Lawrence (1917–2000) The Card Game, 1953 Tempera on board, 19 x 23½ in. SCAD Museum of Art Permanent Collection, Gift of Walter O. Evans and, Mrs. Linda J. Evans © 2018 The Jacob and Gwendolyn Knight Lawrence Foundation, Seattle / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Lawrence studied with Savage in the early 1930s and consistently acknowledged her impact on his life and artistic development. He is known for simple yet evocative depictions of Black life, history, and culture and became the first Black artist represented by the Downtown Gallery in NY.

William Artis (1914–1977) A Mother’s Love, 1963 Limestone, 32½ x 17¾ x 14½ in. Clark Atlanta University Art Collection, Atlanta Annuals, 1963.007 Public domain

Artis studied with Savage in the early 1930s and won the Harmon Foundation’s John Hope Prize under her mentorship. The most distinctive features of his work are the elongated necks and accentuated Black facial features.

Romare Bearden (1911–1988) Reclining Nude, 1979 Collage on board, 15½ x 23½ in. SCAD Museum of Art Permanent Collection Gift of Walter O. Evans and Mrs. Linda J. Evans Art © Foundation/ Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY

Bearden was a master collagist, writer, theorist, and organizer. He founded the art collective Spiral in response to the Civil Rights Movement and established the Cinque Gallery with Ernest Crichlow and Norman Lewis. Bearden said that Savage “lived for her work…gradually [she] realized that the Black artist was caught in the economic plight of African Americans as a whole and that she could not escape their struggles.”