Bowdoin College Museum of Art - There Is a Woman in Every Color: Black Women in Art

There Is a Woman in Every Color: Black Women in Art

Augusta Savage

American (b. Green Cove Springs, Florida, 1892 – d. New York, New York, 1962)

Fostered by her vibrant life in Harlem, New York, Augusta Savage was an influential sculptor, art teacher, and activist. Her reputation was first established as a portrait sculptor, making busts of W.E.B. Du Bois and Marcus Garvey for the Harlem Library. She often used terracotta and plaster and would paint them to resemble bronze. Savage was also a gifted teacher. In 1932, she founded the Savage Studio of Arts and Craft in Harlem. She strived to establish a learning environment that strived for equality for all artists, specifically those marginalized within the arts. Her sculptural portraiture sought to bring about naturalness and humanity to the figures of Black people. Later in her life, Savage continued to teach children and wrote children’s stories.

Gamin, ca. 1930

Augusta Savage (American, 1892–1962)

painted plaster

9 x 5 3/4 x 4 1/4 in. (22.86 x 14.61 x 10.8 cm)

Gift of halley k harrisburg, Class of 1990, and Michael Rosenfeld, 2020.52. Artwork in the public domain.

An artist and educator, Augusta Savage was one of the leading figures of the Harlem Renaissance. Her sculptures often treated Black subjects and physiognomy with great sensitivity, countering mainstream representations of African Americans during the 1920s and ‘30s. Savage took meticulous care in sculpting this bust of a young child, dressed in a wrinkled shirt and flat cap. Created in 1929, Savage’s Gamin garnered acclaim and earned the artist a fellowship that enabled her to study for two years in Paris. This painted sculpture embodies the spirit of Savage’s works in that it represents the dignity of African Americans that many Black artists sought to promote during this period. Harlem and its community were a great source of inspiration for Black artists, and Savage dedicated her life to training emerging African American artists and creating opportunities for them to showcase their work.

Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Maine

Bowdoin College Museum of Art