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Augusta Savage ARTIST FACT SHEET The Warmth of Other Suns Tour Artist’s Name: Augusta Savage (1892-1962) Nationality: American Title of Work: Gamin, painted plaster Date: 1929 Background: Born in 1892 in Green Cove Springs, Florida, Augusta was the 7th of 14th children. Her father, a Methodist minister, strongly opposed his daughter’s interest in art and was not supportive. She married very young and had one daughter. For most of her life, she struggled with poverty which resulted in her not having funds for materials nor the schooling she desired to enhance her natural artistic ability. Her sculpture entitled, Gamin (which means street urchin in French) was very well-received. Her New York audiences related her work to images of similar youths who roamed the streets of Harlem. Two of her admirers raised funds, which enabled her to travel to Paris in 1929 and enroll in the Académie de la Grande Chaumière, where she studied portraits. Upon her return to New York, she established an art school and became an influential teacher in Harlem. Lack of funds drove her out of New York eventually, but not before she received a commission to produce a sculpture (The Harp) for the 1939 New York World’s Fair. Unfortunately, that piece was destroyed, also because of lack of funds to store it. What influenced the artist: Savage lived in New York during the Harlem Renaissance (a time in which African-American art and culture flourished in Harem), which fostered her desire to create art. She did busts of prominent personalities of that period, such as W.E.B. DuBois and Marcus Garvey. She was one of the first artists to deal with black physiognomy (facial features held to show qualities of mind or character by their configuration or expression). Materials used: The bust was modeled in clay, cast in plaster, and painted to resemble bronze. Savage clearly has great talent in handling clay for she has sensitively modeled the facial features in contrast to the wrinkled shirt and floppy cap. The subject was modeled after Savage’s nephew and this piece is considered her best known and most successful sculpture. How does this piece relate to The Warmth of Other Suns? ● Savage lived in New York during the Harlem Renaissance. In fact, she established and taught at an art school in Harlem. George Starling would arrive in Harlem after Savage had likely departed there. ● Both Savage and Starling were born in the citrus growing region of Florida; both had fathers who were unsupportive of their desire for continued education. List of questions to engage tour members: 1. What does the subject’s face suggest he may know about life? 2. How would you approach someone who looked at you like this? 3. Why do you think the artist wanted to portray someone like “Gamin” instead of a smiling more innocent-looking kid? 4. This image could just as easily be a depiction of a young George Starling or Robert Pershing Foster. What occasion in their youth might you connect this piece to? Artist Quote: “I have created nothing really beautiful, really lasting, but if I can inspire one of these youngsters to develop the talent I know they possess, then my monument (art) will be in their work.” T.R. Poston, “Augusta Savage”, Metropolitan Magazine, Jan. 1935, n.p. List of helpful resources for this fact sheet: Regenia A. Perry Free within Ourselves: African-American Artists in the Collection of the National Museum of American Art (Washington, D.C.: National Museum of American Art in Association with Pomegranate Art Books, 1992) Narratives of African American Art and Identity: The David C. Driskell Collection, Augusta Savage, Gamin,1998 Original: Toni Kendrick January 2018 Slight Revision: Alice Ross October 2018 .
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