Gamin

Object Details

Artist

Augusta Savage, born Green Cove Springs, FL 1892-died New York City 1962

Gallery Label

Augusta Savage's young nephew Ellis Ford modeled for this sculpture in 1929 while he and his family were living with her in Harlem, taking refuge there after losing their home in Florida in a hurricane. Ellis is shown with the soft cap commonly worn by newspaper boys and other working youth. Inscribed on the base is the French word gamin, a term that refers to streetwise children. This composition was widely considered to be Savage's most successful sculpture. It was so popular that the artist produced a life-sized bronze as well as numerous plaster casts like the one shown here, which she painted to look like bronze.

Savage was an activist-educator and key figure working in Harlem during the 1920s and 1930s. She mentored countless prominent artists and was an outspoken critic of racism embedded in the artworld. She was a cofounder of the Harlem Artists Guild, which secured employment for Black artists, and she helped establish the Harlem Community Art Center. In 1939 she opened the Salon of Contemporary Negro Art, the first gallery in the United States dedicated specially to exhibiting and selling works by African American artists.

Credit Line

Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Benjamin and Olya Margolin

ca. 1929

Object number

1988.57

Restrictions & Rights

Usage conditions apply

Type

Sculpture

Medium

painted plaster

Dimensions

9 x 5 3/4 x 4 3/8 in. (22.9 x 14.7 x 11.2 cm.)

See more items in

Smithsonian American Art Museum Collection

Department

Painting and Sculpture

On View

Smithsonian American Art Museum, 3rd Floor, North Wing

Smithsonian American Art Museum

Topic

African American

Dress\accessory\hat

Figure male\child\bust

Record ID

saam_1988.57

Metadata Usage (text)

Not determined

GUID (Link to Original Record)

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/vk7f2503165-056b-4c9b-8d20-e1acbb94b554