World-Famous African-American Sculptor - Augusta Fells Savage (1892-1962)

Augusta Savage was born in Green Cove Springs, Florida, February 29, 1892. She knew at an early age that she wanted to become a sculptor, but unfortunately, Savage's father, a Methodist minister, disapproved of his daughter's love for art because he believed her creations were pagan. As a result of her father’s disapproval, Augusta experienced periods in her life when she was unable to practice her sculpting.

In 1915, the family left Green Cove Springs and moved to West Palm Beach. It was in West Palm Beach, at the age of 23, that Augusta realized that her future was in sculpting. Savage was inspired to become a professional artist when she was given an award for a group of her sculptures at a 1919 county fair.

Soon after her success, Augusta Savage moved to Jacksonville, Florida in search of work as a sculptor. Like so many Blacks that were living in the South at this time, Savage's efforts to establish herself proved unsuccessful.

In 1921, Augusta Savage moved to New York, believing that the North would provide her with the artistic opportunity she desired; a belief shared by many Blacks during the Migration Era. When Savage reached Harlem, it wasn’t long before she established herself not only as an artist, but also as a teacher.

Savage had her first formal art training in New York City at Cooper Union, the school recommended to her by Solon Gorglum. While studying at Cooper Union, Savage supported herself by doing odd jobs, which included clerking and working in laundries.

Augusta was turned down for a summer art program by the French government in 1923 because of her color. She brought this issue to the public's attention and caused quite an uproar. She never received the scholarship, but she received an offer to study with the sculptor Herman MacNeil. This incident brought attention to the discrimination African American artists faced in this country. Savage was seen as a troublemaker.

In 1926 Savage exhibited her work at the Sesquicentennial Exposition in Philadelphia. That same year, she was awarded a scholarship to study in Rome. Savage was unable to accept the award because she could not raise the money needed to live there. Savage did get a chance to study in Europe at a later time.

Most of Savage's sculptures reflect an aspect of African American culture. The Harp was a sculpture influenced by Negro spirituals and hymns - most notably James Weldon Johnson's "Lift Every Voice and Sing."

Savage was unique in that most of her sculptures focused on Black physiognomy - The art of judging human character from facial features. This is readily seen in a sculpture of her nephew entitled Gamin. It was this sculpture that won Augusta Savage the Julius Rosenwald Fellowship in 1929 and the opportunity to study in Paris for a year.

When Savage returned home from Europe, she was ready to share her art with the Harlem community, and exhibited her work at several important galleries. In addition to her own work, Savage taught art classes in Harlem. During the Depression, she helped African American artists to enroll in the Works Progress Administration arts project.

Throughout her career, Savage was an active spokesperson for African American artists in the United States. She also was one of the principal organizers of the Harlem Artists Guild.
In 1932, Augusta established the Savage Studio of Arts and Crafts at 163 West 143rd Street. Savage used this studio as a way to provide adults with art education. In 1937, she became the first director of the Harlem Community Arts Center, an institution funded by the Works Progress Administration. The Arts Center was a place where African Americans could learn about their culture through the study of fine arts.

One of the greatest highlights of Savage's life was her involvement with the 306 Group – named because of the location of Charles Alston's studio at 306 West 141st Street. This group was made up of a variety of WPA artists who worked out of the studio on 141st Street. Some of the other "306" members included Charles Alston, Romare Bearden, Jacob Lawrence, and Morgan and Marvin Smith.

After 1945, Augusta Savage reduced the amount of sculpting she had been doing and fell into seclusion. Though no longer in the spotlight, she continued to teach sculpting and other art to both children and adults throughout New York.

Augusta Savage was a dedicated teacher who put her own work aside in order to encourage gifted children. She was appointed director of the Harlem Community Art Center in 1937, and helped to organize the Harlem Arts Guild. In 1939, she was commissioned for the New York World's Fair to produce a sculpture.

She created one of her major works, "The Harp," based on James and J. Rosamond Johnson's song, "Lift Every Voice and Sing." Here it is pictured under construction in her studio.
The work was exhibited adjacent to the Contemporary Arts Building. It was, unfortunately, destroyed when the fair was over.

Shortly afterward, Augusta Savage left Harlem and maintained a studio in Saugerties, New York, where she continued to work and teach.

Of her work with children, Savage said, "If I can inspire one of these youngsters to develop the talent I know they possess, then my monument will be in their work."

NOTE: If you missed my other contributions for Black History Month, go HERE to read about Gordon Parks and HERE to read about Romare Bearden.

Romare Howard Bearden (1914-1987)

Manhattan Suite

Romare Howard Bearden was born in the South on September 2, 1914, but spent most of his life in New York City. Bearden was an only child.

It was in New York City where Bearden developed an artistic reputation that exceeded expectations of any other modern African American artist. Bearden is best known as a collagist that always reflected his African American heritage and often reflected his southern background.

Evening Lamp

Bearden’s life and art are marked by exceptional talent that encompassed a broad range of intellectual and scholarly interests. These interests included music, performing arts, history, literature and world art. He was also a celebrated humanist, which was demonstrated by his lifelong support of young, emerging artists.

Bearden began college at Lincoln University and then transferred to Boston University, where he had been the art director of Beanpot, the student humor magazine. He completed his studies at NYU, graduating with a degree in education.

It was at NYU that Bearden took several art courses and was a lead cartoonist and later the art editor for the monthly journal The Medley. Bearden published several journal covers during his university years and the first of many texts he would later write on social and artistic issues. He also attended the Art Students League in New York, and later, the Sorbonne in Paris.

The Visitor

Romare embarked on his lifelong study of art after joining the Harlem Artists Guild. It was there that he gathered inspiration from Western masters ranging from Duccio, Giotto and de Hooch to Cezanne, Picasso and Matisse, as well as from African art – particularly sculpture, masks and textiles), Byzantine mosaics, Japanese prints and Chinese landscape paintings.

Bearden was a social worker with the New York City Department of Social Services from the mid-1930’s through the 1960’s. He would work on his art at night and on the weekends.

Three Figures


His success as an artist was recognized with his first solo exhibition in Harlem in 1940 and in Washington, D.C. in 1944. Bearden’s works were exhibited during his lifetime throughout the U.S. and Europe. His collages, watercolors, oils, photomontages and prints are rich with visual metaphors from his past in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Pittsburgh and Harlem and from a host of historical, literary and musical sources.

In 1954, Romare Bearden married Nanette Rohan. Romare spent the rest of his life with Nanette. In the 70’s, they established a second residence on the Caribbean Island of St. Martin, where his wife was from. Some of Bearden’s later works reflected the island’s lush landscapes.

Bearden had many friends. Among his friends were James Baldwin, Stuart Davis, Duke Ellington, Langston Hughes, Ralph Ellison, Joan Miro, George Grosz, Alvin Ailey and Jacob Lawrence.
In 1987, Bearden received the Medal of Arts from President Ronald Reagan, and less than a year later, on March 11, 1988, Bearden died of bone cancer in New York City.
His estate made provisions for the establishment of the Romare Bearden Foundation to aid in the education and training of talented art students.

February is My Birthday & Black History Month

"Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time" -Barack Obama

Hopefully, the singular event of January 20, 2009 will result in a huge step in the direction of making Black History Month a memory of the past. I believe that will be up to us to help make that happen.

My contribution to helping make that happen and in keeping with the GOT ART? theme of my blog, is to introduce or re-introduce to you, some famous African American Artists throughout the month.

Up first is Gordon Parks. Gordon Roger Alexander Buchanan Parks was born on November 30, 1912 (the youngest of 15 children) in segregated Fort Scott, Kansas.

Stillborn with no heartbeat, declared dead by the family doctor, and put aside for later burial, another doctor in the delivery room had an idea to immerse the newborn in ice-cold water. The shock caused his heart to start beating and the baby was soon crying, healthy, and named for Dr. Gordon, who had saved his life.

Gordon Parks was a ground-breaking American photographer, musician, poet, novelist, journalist, activist and film director.

At 25, Parks bought his first camera and began working as a self-taught freelance photographer, focusing on everything from fashion to the effects the depression in Chicago's slums. The photo clerks that developed his first roll of film applauded his work and prompted Parks to get a fashion assignment at Frank Murphy's women's clothing store. Every frame was double exposed with the exception of the one shot that caught Joe Louis' wife, Marva Louis' eye. Marva encouraged Parks to move to Chicago to begin a portrait business for society women.

By 1944, Parks was the only Black photographer working for Vogue and in 1948 he became the first Black photographer (for 20 years) at Life magazine, the most prestigious magazine of its day for photography.

Big Momma and Boy (Bessie and Little Richard the Morning After She Scalded Her Husband), 1967/8 Gordon Parks’s compelling photograph of Bessie Fontenelle and her youngest son Richard, Jr., was published by Life magazine on March 8, 1968, as part of a special feature on blacks and poverty called A Harlem Family (or At the Poverty Board). Parks’s essay and twenty-five photographs vividly depict the hardships of a Harlem family living under deplorable conditions. Taken shortly after Bessie violently retaliated against her husband’s abuse, this image, which appears on the opening spread, captures both her love for her son and her deep frustration and exhaustion—the dichotomy of a life torn between hope and despair. Her sadness is tempered by her child’s wide-eyed innocence. The article begins with this admonition: “What I want/What I am/What you force me to be/is what you are,” suggesting that we are all part of one global family. Sadly, only young Richard survived the family’s hardships and grew up to escape poverty.

Parks was the first African American to write, direct, and produce a film for a major motion picture company.

His film - The Learning Tree, was among the 25 films placed on the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress in 1989.

In 1966, Parks published the first of three autobiographies, A Choice of Weapons. This autobiography tells of his struggle to survive whole after his mother's death. Park's mother died when he was 15 years old.

Parks wrote many musical compositions, including blues tunes and popular songs in his early career, and frequently incorporated his music into his films. Conversely, he wrote several film scores and then adapted the music afterward for their separate release. Among these were Tree Symphony from The Learning Tree and "Don't Misunderstand" from Shaft's Big Score.

He composed Concerto for Piano and Orchestra, Piece for Cello and Orchestra, Five Piano Sonatas and Celebrations for Sarah Ross and Andrew Jackson Parks. He created the music and libretto for a five-act ballet entitled Martin in 1989. The ballet was a tribute to Martin Luther King Jr., which premiered in Washington, D.C. Martin later aired on national television on King's birthday in 1990.

Between 1968 and 1996, Gordon Parks received honorary degrees from the Maryland Institute of Fine Arts, Pratt Institute, Syracuse University School of Journalism, Boston University School of Public Communication, Colby College, Lincoln University, Rutgers University, Kansas City Art Institute in 1984, Art Center College of Design, Hamline University, American International College, Savannah College of Art and Design, and the University of the District of Columbia.

Parks summed up his life in Visions as follows:

"I've known both misery and happiness, lived in so many different skins it is impossible for one skin to claim me. And I have felt like a wayfarer on an alien planet at times walking, running, wondering about what brought me to this particular place, and why. But once I was here the dreams started moving in, and I went about devouring them as they devoured me"

Gordon Parks died of cancer on March 7, 2006 at the age of 93 in New York City.