A powerful biography in poems about a trailblazing artist and a pillar
of the Harlem Renaissance--with an afterword by the curator of the
Art & Artifacts Division of the Schomburg Center for Research in
Black Culture.
Augusta Savage was arguably the most influential American artist of the
1930s. A gifted sculptor, Savage was commissioned to create a portrait
bust of W.E.B. Du Bois for the New York Public Library. She flourished
during the Harlem Renaissance, and became a teacher to an entire
generation of African American artists, including Jacob Lawrence, and
would go on to be nationally recognized as one of the featured artists
at the 1939 World's Fair. She was the first-ever recorded Black
gallerist. After being denied an artists' fellowship abroad on the basis
of race, Augusta Savage worked to advance equal rights in the arts. And
yet popular history has forgotten her name. Deftly written and brimming
with photographs of Savage's stunning sculpture, this is an important
portrait of an exceptional artist who, despite the limitations she
faced, was compelled to forge a life through art and creativity.