Augusta Savage
| Augusta Savage | |
|---|---|
Augusta Savage at work in her studio in Harlem in the 1920s/1930s.
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| Born |
Augusta Christine Fells February 29, 1892 Green Cove Springs, Florida |
| Died | March 27, 1962 (aged 70) New York |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | Cooper Union, Académie de la Grande Chaumière |
| Known for | Art |
| Notable work |
Gamin W.E.B Dubois Lift Every Voice and Sing |
| Movement | Harlem Renaissance |
| Patron(s) | Teachers from Florida A&M, Julius Rosenwald Fund |
Augusta Savage, born Augusta Christine Fells (February 29, 1892 – March 27, 1962) was an African-American sculptor associated with the Harlem Renaissance. She was also a teacher and her studio was important to the careers of a rising generation of artists who would become nationally known. She worked for equal rights for African Americans in the arts.
Augusta Fells (Savage) was born in Green Cove Springs (near Jacksonville), Florida, on February 29, 1892, to Edward Fells, a Methodist minister, and Cornelia Murphy. She began making clay figures as a child, mostly small animals, but her father was a poor Methodist minister who strongly opposed his daughter’s early interest in art. "My father licked me four or five times a week,” Savage once recalled, “and almost whipped all the art out of me.” This was because at that time, he believed her sculpture to be a sinful practice, based upon his interpretation of the "graven images" portion of the Bible. She persevered, and the principal of her new high school in West Palm Beach, where her family relocated in 1915, encouraged her talent and allowed her to teach a clay modeling class. This began a lifelong commitment to teaching as well as to art.
In 1907, Augusta Fells married John T. Moore. Her only child, Irene Connie Moore, was born the next year. John died shortly thereafter. In 1915, she married James Savage; she kept the name of Savage throughout her life. After their divorce in the early 1920s, Augusta Savage moved back to West Palm Beach.
Augusta Savage continued to model clay, and in 1919 was granted a booth at the Palm Beach County Fair, where she was awarded a $25 prize and ribbon for most original exhibit. Following this success, she sought commissions for work in Jacksonville, Florida, before departing for New York City in 1921. She arrived with a letter of recommendation from Palm Beach County Fair official, George Graham Currie, for sculptor Solon Borglum and $4.60. Borglum declined to take her as a student, but encouraged her to apply to Cooper Union in New York City, where she was admitted in October, 1921. She was selected before 142 other women on the waiting list. Her talent and ability so impressed the Cooper Union Advisory Council that she was awarded additional funds for room and board when she lost the financial support of her job as an apartment caretaker. From 1921 through 1923, she studied under sculptor George Brewster. She completed the four-year course of study degree in three years.
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