Savage, Augusta (1892-1962).

Gamin by Augusta Savage (1892-1962) 9.25", Plaster, Signed and Titled Est.: $3,000 - $4,000 Sold by John Moran Auctioneers for $40,250 on 6/19/2007 ARTIST WORLD RECORD

Augusta Savage was one of the most influential artists and educators of the Harlem Renaissance. Born Augusta Christine Fells in Green Cove Springs, Florida, she received formal training at the Cooper Union School of Art (1921-1924). In 1930 and 1931, Savage was the recipient of two successive Rosenwald Grants, which enabled her to travel to France and study at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière in Paris.

When she returned to New York in 1932, she opened the Savage School of Arts and Crafts in Harlem, where her students included William Artis, Jacob Lawrence and Norman Lewis. Working in plaster, which was then painted to resemble bronze, Augusta Savage is known for her sensitive and skillful modeling of the human figure. The majority of her sculptures from this period are small-scale portraits of family and friends, and portrait busts of African-American notables, such as W.E.B. Du Bois and Marcus Garvey.

In 1935, she was a founding member of the Harlem Artists Guild, and from 1936-1937 she worked for the WPA Federal Arts Project as the Director of the Harlem Community Art Center. In 1937, she left the WPA to work what would become her most famous work, Lift Every Voice and Sing (also know as The Harp) for the 1939 New York World’s Fair.
When she was finished with the commission, she was left unemployed and was virtually forced to give up her career as an artist due to lack of funds. In the mid 1940s, Savage began living a reclusive life in Saugerties, New York, and she began to explore her interest in writing. In 1962, Savage returned to New York City and died of cancer later that same year. Source: Michael Rosenfeld Gallery