A SAVAGE Evans Savage Gwen Knight
Augusta Savage, Gwendolyn Knight, 1934–35; recast 2001; Bronze; Walter O. Evans Collection of African American Art & Augusta Savage, Gamin, ca. 1930; Plaster; Museum purchase, 2013.2

Main Galleries

Augusta Savage: Renaissance Woman

Jan 19, 2020 - Mar 22, 2020

Presented by: Presented by The Joe Orgill Family Fund for Exhibitions

Organized by: Organized by Cummer Museum of Art and Gardens

Augusta Savage: Renaissance Woman celebrates the work and legacy of one of twentieth-century America’s most influential artists. Augusta Savage (1892-1962) was a Black woman artist from the South whose career as a sculptor led her north to Harlem in 1921. Her talent, ingenuity, and determination led to her prominence and a successful career during the Harlem Renaissance. In addition to her own artistic practice, she worked tirelessly to challenge art galleries and museums to recognize Black artists. Savage’s work as an educator and activist in the Harlem community galvanized a younger generation of African American artists.

This landmark exhibition features more than fifty works of art, including sculptures, paintings, photographs, and drawings, by both Savage and the artists she taught, championed, and inspired. It is the first exhibition to consider Augusta Savage’s contributions to art and cultural history in light of the twenty-first-century concept of the artist-activist. August Savage: Renaissance Woman re-examines Savage’s place in the history of American sculpture and positions her as a leading figure who broke down the barriers she and her students encountered while seeking to participate fully in the international art world.

This exhibition is curated by Jeffreen M. Hayes, PhD and organized by the Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens with support from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Sotheby’s Prize.