In the 1940’s working as a graphic designer she was ‘discovered’ for her visual talent by Photographer Richard Avedon and encouraged towards a career in photography.

Her sophisticated style evolved and was bold, moody and elegantly expressed in fashion photography in Harper’s Bazzaar from the late 1940s to the early 1960s’. Her romantic images revolutionized fashion photography and her talent was highly sought after. Vanity Fair magazine singled her out as one of photography’s “grand masters”. ‘Full of mystery, sensuality, and expressionistic glamour, Bassman’s dramatic black and white photographs capture secret moments and dream memories’.

Bassman told The New York Times in a 1997 interview that she wanted to “take the hardness out of the photography” in order to make it less literal, which she accomplished using darkroom techniques such as bleaching, dodging and burning, and selective focus.

Over the ensuing 25 years, Bassman shot a wide variety of consumer ads–“everything that could be photographed,” she told The New York Times–but especially glamorous models for lingerie advertising. She frequently shot fashion spreads for Harper’s Bazaar as well.

In the 1970s, Bassman was discourage with the changing fashion industry and high-maintenance models, “I got sick of them,” she told The Times in 2009. “They were becoming superstars. They were not my kind of models. They were dictating rather than taking direction.” Disappointed with the profession she abruptly closed her studio, abandoned photography – destroyed her commercial negatives and dumped the editorial ones in binliners in a nook of her home. Instead, for private satisfaction, she photographed semi-abstracts.

For years her famous dramatic images stayed dormant. And then in the early 1990’s a friend of hers discovered her long lost negatives and encouraged her to pursue photography again. With the passage of years she was ready to redefine her photography work.

At 87 years old her interest in darkroom techniques transferred into a fascination for Photoshop and she embraced the digital and began creating interesting effects and variations of images she had captured years ago. Her reinterpretations, as she called them, found a new generation of admirers.

These reinterpretations were so admired that she returned to photograph the Paris collections for the New York Times magazine in 1996, and worked for Vogue until 2004. She had exhibitions across Europe and in the US. Books of her “painting with light” were published in 1997 (Lillian Bassman), 2009 (Lillian Bassman: Women) and this year (Lillian Bassman: Lingerie).

Lillian Bassman who passed away last year in February at age 94, is truly an inspirational artist. In an era where women were not recognized in the arts and design, she was. And as an 87-year old woman she embraced digital, learned technical skills and revitalized her work in a new way.

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Beatrix Potter born in London on July 28th 1866, was an English author, illustrator, natural scientist and conservationist best known for her imaginative children’s books featuring animals such as those in The Tale of Peter Rabbit.

Influenced by her father Rupert Potter a barrister who chose not to pursue his profession but his passion for art and photography, Beatrix was an imaginative and independent woman who was way ahead of her time in an era that kept women ‘properly’ inhibited.

“Thank goodness I was never sent to school; it would have rubbed off some of the originality.”

A fascination in the sciences and a love for animals and nature was an ongoing inspiration for Beatrix and her paintings and illustrations. At the age of eight Beatrix was already studying and recording the characteristics of a wide variety of animals, birds and insects in a home-made sketchbook.

This habit of spending time observing the form and structure of living things continued throughout her childhood and into adolescence. She observed and dissected animals in order to discover their precise physiognomy and anatomy. Her early passion for scientific investigation became integral to her method as an illustrator.

Educated by private governesses, which was common for wealthy families, Beatrix was able to pursue and excel in literature, science, history and private art lessons.

“I cannot rest, I must draw, however poor the result, and when I have a bad time come over me it is a stronger desire than ever.”

Through her 20s, Beatrix developed into a talented naturalist. She made studies of plants and animals at the Cromwell Road museums, and learned how to draw with her eye to a microscope. Her scientific studies were exceptional though not taken serious since she was a woman. However, her talent and capabilities would eventually earn her the respect she deserved in spite of discrimination.

Beatrix was also an accomplished still life painter and at age 15 produced remarkable paintings – though not widely known for this.

She painted for many years for her own amusement and story telling for family and friends before she decided to pursue commercial work.

“I hold that a strongly marked personality, can influence descendants for generations.”

Peter Rabbit the World’s Oldest Licensed Character

With a fondness for her rabbit character and story, she decided to turn it into a picture book. Determination to see the book published did not stop her even though the book was rejected by several publishers. She printed the book herself with 250 copies.

The “Tale of Peter Rabbit” was a great success with family and friends.

In 1902 Frederick Warne & Co. agreed to publish an initial quantity of 8,000 copies which sold out instantly and her career as a storyteller and illustrator was launched.

In 1903 Beatrix designed and patented a Peter Rabbit doll, making Peter Rabbit the world’s oldest licensed character.

Potter was also a canny businesswoman. As early as 1903 she made and patented a Peter Rabbit doll, the world’s oldest licensed character. It was followed by other “spin-off” merchandise over the years, including painting books, board games, wall-paper, figurines, baby blankets and china tea-sets. All were licensed by Frederick Warne & Co. and earned Potter an independent income as well as immense profits for her publisher.

With the proceeds from the book and a family inheritance she went on to purchase a farm, Hill Top Farm in Near Sawrey and over several decades purchased additional farms to preserve the unique hill country landscape.

Beatriz remained single until age 47 when she married William Heelis. They enjoyed a happy marriage of thirty years.

“Most people, after one success, are so cringingly afraid of doing less well that they rub all the edge off their subsequent work.”

Beatrix Potter published over twenty- three books and the best known are those written between 1902 and 1922.

She continued to write, illustrate and design spin-off merchandise based on her children’s books for Warne until the duties of land management and diminishing eyesight made it difficult to continue.

She died at age 77 of complications from pneumonia and heart disease. She left nearly all her property to the National Trust, including over 4,000 acres of land, sixteen farms, cottages and herds of cattle and Herdwick sheep. Hers was the largest gift at that time to the National Trust and it enabled the preservation of the lands now included in the Lake District National Park and the continuation of fell farming.

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Georgia O’Keeffe is a legend in the world of art and remains one of America’s most popular painters of natural artworks today. Born in Wisconsin in 1887, Georgia was raised in the midst of a large farming family and had six siblings; she was the second oldest. Perhaps one of the reasons Georgia developed an interest in painting was her mother’s cultural interests. In addition to their school studies, Georgia’s mother saw to it that all her daughters studied art, although Georgia said she really did not know where the idea to become an artist came from. Wherever it originated, she was highly successful!

Around the world, people still easily recognize her work, often identifying her paintings immediately upon seeing a huge display of colorful flowers or bones in a dream-like desert.

She also holds the record for the highest price paid for a painting by a woman. On November 20, 2014 at Sotheby’s, the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art bought her 1932 painting Jimson Weed/White Flower No. 1 for US$44.4 million (equivalent to US$57.2 million in 2023).

Jimson Weed, White Flower No. 1, expresses one of O’Keeffe’s favorite subjects: a magnified flower. She made it her purpose to highlight their complex structures, explaining: “When you take a flower in your hand and really look at it, it’s your world for the moment. I want to give that world to someone else. Most people in the city rush around so, they have no time to look at a flower. I want them to see it whether they want to or not.”

Six calla lily paintings created by Georgia sold for $25,000 in 1928; certainly that amount of money was hardly heard of during the period. At the time, this was the most ever paid for a group of creative works by a still-living American artist.

Before Georgia O’Keeffe became famous, she studied at the Art Institute of Chicago and was given her first gallery show by photographer Alfred Stieglitz in 1916. Eight years later, the couple married and were not only husband and wife, but best friends and partners until the time of Stieglitz’s death in 1946. Following his death, Georgia spent much of her time in New Mexico, where she purchased two homes, the Abiquiu and Ghost Ranch. For 35 years she lived in either of these two homes after moving from New York. In 1984, Georgia moved to Santa Fe where she died two years later.

Georgia’s Abiquiu home is open to tours today. When she purchased the 5,000 square foot Spanish Colonial-era compound in 1945, it was said to be in ruins. Georgia spent four years restoring the home with Maria Chabot, her close friend.

Some of Georgia’s earliest popular works of art include Oriental Poppies, Black Iris, and Shelton Hotel, N.Y. No. 1. These paintings were created during the early years of O’Keeffe’s and Stieglitz’s marriage.

Two of her earliest and most celebrated Southwestern paintings—Cow’s Skull: Red, White, and Blue (The Metropolitan Museum of Art) and Cow’s Skull with Calico Roses (Art Institute of Chicago) from 1931—express a skull’s weathered surfaces, jagged edges, and irregular openings.  O’Keeffe said that the bones symbolized the eternal beauty of the desert.

O’Keeffe passed away in 1986 at age ninety-eight, her ashes were scattered over the New Mexico landscape she had loved for more than half a century. She created over 900 paintings and is regarded as one of the most famous women artists of all time.

To create one’s world in any of the arts takes courage. ~ Georgia O’Keeffe

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Louise Bourgeois was a renowned French-born American artist and sculptor, best known for her contributions to both modern and contemporary art, and for her spider structures, abstract sculptures, drawings and prints. She was in her 80’s when she created her iconic giant spider as part of the Maman series.

She was nicknamed the Spiderwoman and in 2012 her sculpture titled Maman, sold for $10.7 million, a new record price for the artist at auction, and the highest price paid for a work by a woman artist. Maman resembles a spider, is among the world’s largest, measuring over 30 ft high and over 33 ft wide, with a sac containing 26 marble eggs.

Why did Louise Bourgeois make the Spider sculpture?

“The Spider is an ode to my mother. She was my best friend. Like a spider, my mother was a weaver. My family was in the business of tapestry restoration, and my mother was in charge of the workshop. Like spiders, my mother was very clever. Spiders are friendly presences that eat mosquitoes. We know that mosquitoes spread diseases and are therefore unwanted. So, spiders are helpful and protective, just like my mother.”
— Louise Bourgeois

Though she holds a place in current art history with famous works such as Maman, it was only only late in a long career that she was seen as a profound and influential female artist. She fought hard for this and had a history of activism. During the 1970s, Bourgeois was a member of the Fight Censorship Group, a feminist anti-censorship collective founded by fellow artist Anita Steckel that defended the use of sexual imagery in artwork. Her sculptures were viewed as intimate and overtly sexual, and were created during the most controversial period of American art.

Early Years and Trauma

Bourgeois was born on 25 December 1911 and was the middle child of three born to parents Josephine Fauriaux and Louis Bourgeois. Her parents owned a gallery that dealt primarily in antique tapestries. A few years after her birth, her family moved out of Paris and set up a workshop for tapestry restoration below their apartment in Choisy-le-Roi, for which Bourgeois filled in the designs where they had become worn.

By 1924 her father, a tyrannical philanderer, was indulging in an extended affair with her English teacher and nanny. According to Bourgeois, her mother, Josephine, “an intelligent, patient and enduring, if not calculating, person,” was aware of her husband’s infidelity, but found it easier to turn a blind eye.

She was eleven when she witnessed her father’s betrayal of his wife and three children and this had a lasting effect on her. During this period, Bourgeois attended to her mother, who had succumbed to the Spanish Flu. This triangle of sexual infidelity and illness cast the young artist in the most inappropriate of roles—as voyeur, accomplice, and nurturer—the combination of which left her with life-long psychic scars.

This marked the beginning of her experience and pain with double standards related to gender and sexuality and this theme was expressed in much of her work. She recalls her father saying “I love you” repeatedly to her mother despite infidelity. She remarked, “He was the wolf, and she was the rational hare, forgiving and accepting him as he was.”

Bourgeois published a photo essay in Artforum magazine that revealed the impact of childhood trauma on her art.

“Everything I do,” she exclaimed, “was inspired by my early life.”

Her diaries, which she has kept assiduously since 1923, indicate the tensions between rage, fear of abandonment, and guilt that she has suffered since childhood. It is through her art, however, that she has been able to channel and release these tensions.

In the Business of Pain

“The subject of pain is the business I am in,” she said. “To give meaning and shape to frustration and suffering.” She added: “The existence of pain cannot be denied. I propose no remedies or excuses.” Yet it was her gift for universalizing her interior life as a complex spectrum of sensations that made her art so affecting.

A Long Expressive Life

Bourgeois died of heart failure on 31 May 2010 at the age of 98. She had continued to create artwork until her death, her last pieces were finished the week before.

The New York Times said that her work “shared a set of repeated themes, centered on the human body and its need for nurture and protection in a frightening world.”

Her husband, Robert Goldwater, died in 1973. She was survived by two sons, Alain Bourgeois and Jean-Louis Bourgeois. Her third son, Michel, died in 1990

More on Bourgeois
wikipedia.org/wiki/Louise_Bourgeois

arttattler.com/archivebourgeois.html

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Ann Turner Cook (born November 20, 1926 – Died June 3rd, 2022)

The iconic Gerber baby illustration has been a familiar brand seen throughout the world. The face for the trusted baby food, propelled the Gerber brand forward.

However, not much has been shown on the actual artist/illustrator who was inspired to create the sketch of original Gerber Baby, Ann Taylor Cook. Keep reading to learn about Dorothy Hope Smith.

Ann Taylor Cook: Then and now, 4 months to age 95.

In 1927 when she was about 4 months old, her image was sketched in charcoal by their neighbor and friend artist Dorothy Hope Smith. Dorothy submitted a preliminary charcoal sketch to a Gerber baby contest. The sketch was created from a snapshot of Ann Turner. Dorothy’s unfinished submission was intended more as an inquiry as to what the age of the baby should be and what the ad size would be. Dorothy intended to finish the sketch if accepted. The judges loved it. They preferred the simplicity of the illustration compared to more elaborate entries.

Dorothy won $300 in the contest, selling the rights of her drawing to Gerber.

The drawing wasn’t intended to become the brand ‘face’ for Gerber. It was actually for a marketing campaign, however the public loved it so much that they even wanted to purchase copies of the sketch. Gerber was on to something big and the sketch of Ann Cook by Dorothy Hope Smith became a trademark.

Who was Dorothy Hope Smith?

Although today many may not know her name, her creation is household knowledge.
Dorothy was born October 1st in 1895 and died in 1955 at age 60. She studied illustration at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She was a talented commercial illustrator specializing in babies and children. She was one of the “Ivory Soap Baby” illustrators for Procter & Gamble, illustrating children’s books for Putnam and several magazine covers. She married and her husband was also an Illustrator.

Her work represents an era of when advertising was mainly illustration based. She was also one of the few women Illustrators in a time when the industry was dominated by males.

Today you can find copies of the Gerber Baby prints (the same ones that were sold years ago) at auctions.

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Elaine de Kooning (1920-1989)
March 12- Happy birthday to Elaine de Kooning who was a Abstract Expressionist, Figurative Expressionist painter.

Elaine DeKooning was born and grew up in Brooklyn, New York and spent her childhood studying the lives of artists and visiting the museums and galleries of New York City.

After high school she attended the American Artists School and the Leonardo da Vinci School and was swept up in the cultural excitement in New York of the late 1930s and early 1940s.  In 1943 she married Willem de Kooning, one of the group of artists soon to emerge as the first generation of Abstract Expressionists.  He was sixteen years older than she.

To the public she was known as the wife of Willem de Kooning, who has lived in East Hampton since 1961. To colleagues and those whose lives she affected, however, Ms. de Kooning was a gifted painter.

Elaine is credited as the significant influence on making Willem de Kooning the leading name in New York art circles because of her well-placed flirtations, skillful writing of reviews in art magazines, and ability to speak forcefully in private and public lectures.

As a married couple they had strong emotional ties, and yet each had numerous sexual relationships with other persons. They separated in the 1960s but reconciled in the 1970.

One of her most famous commissions was for President John F. Kennedy, which was in process at the time of the assassination. She worked on hundreds of sketches and some two dozen finished canvases in her attempt to capture the President’s restless energy.

When he died, she was so saddened that she put down her brushes for a year.

Her personal life was tumultuous, largely due to her alcoholism, and the wild, heady times of riding the crest of Abstract Expressionism.  She was a chain smoker, which caused her death at the age of 68 on February 1, 1989 of lung cancer in New York.

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Mexico’s most famous woman artist is best known for her self-portraits that express the emotional effects of pain, loss, and tragedy in her life.

The following is a collection of photos of Frida by a variety of photographers in her lifetime. These are especially interesting and seem to capture her spirit. From age 4 and beyond, we hope you are inspired by these unique black and white photos of Frida.

All the pictures shown on Art and Design Inspiration are the property of their respective owners. We don’t hold any copyright on these pictures. These pictures have been collected from different public sources including different websites, considering to be in public domain.

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Frida Kahlo, born July 6th 1907 is Mexico’s most famous woman artist. She is best known for her self-portraits that express the emotional effects of pain, loss and tragedy in her life. Upon viewing her work one can’t help to be engaged with the intensity of emotion and passion along with a lingering curiosity as to the meaning and representation of her surrealistic imagery.

From a traditional viewpoint, Frida’s work expresses the essence of her culture in the 1920’s. Many of her paintings include artifacts of Mexico and traditional Mexican costumes – long skirts and dresses. She rejected conventional Western standards of beauty such as groomed eye brows and groomed her unibrow and even mustache to make them darker.

Domestic elements of her work connect with ordinary life with her love for her pets which is evident in her self portraits with monkeys, birds, cats and more. Her bright colors express a celebratory feel of Mexican folk art and her direct unwavering stare insinuates brashness and boldness.

However, this boldness in her work scratches at the surface to reveal the deeper meaning of her work that reflect her tumultuous relationship with Rivera, as well as the anguish of her ever-deteriorating health. Frida’s art dramatizes the pain in her life while cultivating an image as a bold survivor.

Frida’s Most Compelling Paintings

Pain
The pain Frida expressed in her art continued past the physical pain in her life from disease and accident into emotional pain when she married Diego Rivera. As if her bodily injuries weren’t compelling enough, Frida’s drama – as well as her art – was enhanced by what she referred to as the second accident in her life: Diego Rivera, the famous Mexican muralist and notorious womanizer to whom she was married for 25 years and subsequently in his shadow for the better part of it. Her work didn’t attracted the attention and praise of Diego, which in the beginning of their relationship she longed for.

The Two Frida’s
Hailed as one of her most famous pieces, the intimate and personal painting is notable for it’s surrealism and symbolism. It is believed to be a painting depicting her deep hurt at losing Diego. One Frida sits on the left of the painting; this is the Frida that was rejected by Rivera, Her blouse is ripped open, exposing her broken and bleeding heart.

The Frida to the right, the one that Rivera still loves, has a heart that is still whole. She holds a small portrait of Rivera in her hand. The painting had a special significance for Frida, after her death, this small portrait of Rivera was found amongst Frida’s belongings, and is now on display at the Museo Frida Kahlo in Mexico.

My Birth – 1932
In 1932 Kahlo had a miscarriage, which prompted her to paint some of the most gruesome of the self-portraits that later sealed her reputation as one of the most original painters of her time. One of Frida most startling works, “My Birth,” painted in 1932 was in process when Kahlo found out that her mother was dying of cancer. The painting expresses a startling look at a partially covered woman’s body with Kahlo’s bloodied head bursting out of the vagina.

Currently the ‘My Birth’ painting is owned by Madonna whom is a avid collector of Frida’s art. It’s also thought that Madonna owns Kahlo’s 1943 work Roots purchased for $5.6 million at a Sotheby’s auction.

Me and My Doll – 1937
Many of Frida’s paintings express a fascination with procreation, and some directly reflect her despair at not having children due to her 1925 bus accident which left her unable to bear children. As substitutes for children she collected dolls and kept many pets on which she bestowed her affection.

One of the most moving paintings is a self-portrait of Frida sitting on a bed next to a lifeless looking child/doll. She is smoking a cigarette and looks bored, and is sitting some distance from the child on the bed–a reflection that is believed to be her real lack of maternal instincts.

Niña con Mascara de Muerte (Ella juega sola) – Girl with Death Mask (She Plays Alone)
In 1938 Frida painted this painting and it is thought to be a portrait of her when she was four years old. She is wearing a skull mask traditionally worn at the annual Mexican festival “Day of the Dead.” The girl is holding a yellow flower that looks like the tagete flower that Mexicans place on graves during the “Day of the Dead.” Frida gave this painting to the actress Dolores del Rio as a gift. Later it became a part of a private collection in Monterey, California. It’s now a part of the collection at the Museum of Art in Nagoya, Japan.

Frida’s Last Painting: Viva la Vida, 
Watermelons – 1954

Personal tragedy struck in 1953, when due to complications her right leg was amputated below the knee. Kahlo’s last painting, which she completed shortly before she died, was a still life with watermelons. The watermelon in Frida’s painting has much meaning and is a frequent subject in Mexican art. It is a popular symbol in the holiday Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) which commonly depicts watermelons being eaten by the dead or shown in close conjunction with the dead.

Eight days before she died, she wrote her name, the date and the place of execution on the melon’s red pulp, along with the title “VIVA LA VIDA – Coyoacán 1954 Mexico”, in large capital letters: Long Life Life!

Kahlo died in 1954, at the age of 47. She spent her life in pain, and wrote in her diary a few days before her death that she hoped ‘the exit is joyful, and I hope never to return’.

Fridamania

For almost 30 years Kahlo largely disappeared from the mainstream art world, until the 1938 book was published “Frida: A Biography of Frida Kahlo.”

When it was published, there wasn’t a single monograph of Kahlo’s work to show people what it looked like, but the biography sparked a Frida frenzy that continues today.

 During the month of July we have a Frida Contest on Art & Design Inspiration

If you would like to participate in our Fridamania celebration, create something inspired by Frida.
See the details here!

“I paint my own reality, the only thing I know is that I paint because I need to, and I paint always whatever passes through my head, without any other consideration.”

– Frida Kahlo

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Dubbed the Annie Liebovitz of her day, Tsuneko Sasamoto, 107 years old upon passing,  was a Centenarian and Japan’s first female photojournalist. She photographed some of Japan’s greatest personalities and historical moments during her 70-year career. Though widely published in Japan, she is a hidden gem for international audiences.

Born in 1914 in Shinagawa Ward, Tokyo, Sasamoto’s father was a kimono dealer. Her life has not been easy. “Originally I wanted to be a painter,” she recalls. “But my father didn’t allow it, saying, ‘It’s not what a woman should be.’ ” She tried college, but dropped out and then pursued illustration and pattern-making; the start of her long love for fashion.

It was a black-and-white film by Man Ray Sasamoto saw with a friend in 1937 that sparked her interest in photography. She went on to start her career as a part-time illustrator on the local news pages in Tokyo Nichinichi Shimbun (now Mainichi Shimbun, one of the newspapers in Japan) .

After working for years, she got promoted to a probationary employee in 1940 when she joined the Photographic Society in Japan, officially became the first female photojournalist in Japan.

Her subjects have ranged from impoverished citizens scratching out a living in the lean postwar years, to student protesters and striking coal miners as the country was taking off economically in the politically tumultuous 1960s. She also documented life in Japan as seen in the photo above Geisha School, 1951.

Up until her death, she was busy giving interviews about her exhibition of selected works, “Hyakusai Ten” (“Centenarian’s Exhibition”), and related book, “Hyakusai no Finder” (“Centenarian’s Finder”). In 2011 she published her own photobook.

The secret to her success and longevity?

You should never become lazy. It’s essential to remain positive about your life and never give up. You need to push yourself and stay aware, so you can move forward. That’s what I want people to know.”

She’s also careful to look after herself, swearing by a glass of red wine every night and a piece of chocolate every day. “I also eat a lot of meat. People often say old people shouldn’t eat meat because it is bad for their health, but that is not true,” she said.

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Born in Florida in 1892 Augusta Savage knew early on that she wanted to be an artist. However, the road to creating was not an easy one for her. She was not encouraged at home and she was born into a generation of racism in the South.

Skipping school at times, she enjoyed sculpting animals and other small figures. Her father didn’t approve of this frivolous activity and did whatever he could to stop her.

Savage once said that her father “almost whipped all the art out of me.”

A Monument of Hope and Beauty

Despite her father’s objections and the racism that she encountered, she went on to make a name for herself. Her experiences became part of the passion that she expressed in her work and the passion she expressed through teaching. Throughout her life, she taught art and especially enjoyed inspiring and encouraging young talented artists.

She advanced through her studies of art at the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art where she finished the four-year program in three years. She was recommended by Harlem librarian Sadie Peterson (later Delaney), for a commission of a bust of W.E.B. DuBois. The sculpture was well received and she began sculpting busts of other African American leaders, including Marcus Garvey.

The sculpture that brought her the most fame was one of an expressive Harlem child, titled Gamin (1929). The work was also instrumental in awarding her a scholarship to study at the Academie de la Grande Chaumiere in Paris. A few years earlier in 1922, she had received the French scholarship but the offer was rescinded when white Alabama students who had received similar grants refused to travel to France unless she was removed from the group. 

Her unsuccessful appeal against that loss initiated her lifelong fight for civil rights and the recognition of black artists.

In the late 1930s, Savage was commissioned to create a sculpture for the 1939 New York World’s Fair. The piece, The Harp, inspired by James Weldon Johnson’s poem “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” became one of her best-known.

In 1940 she retired from art and moved to a farm in New York where she lived in rural obscurity. She passed away on March 26, 1962. While she was all but forgotten at the time of her death, Savage is remembered today as a great artist, activist, and arts educator.

I have created nothing really beautiful, really lasting, but if I can inspire one of these youngsters to develop the talent I know they possess, then my monument will be in their work.
-Augusta Savage

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