Artwork Page for Gamin

Details / Information for Gamin

Gamin

c. 1929

Augusta Savage

(American, 1892–1962)
Culture
America
Medium
hand-painted plaster
Measurements
Overall: 44.5 x 24.2 x 20.4 cm (17 1/2 x 9 1/2 x 8 1/16 in.)
Credit Line
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 2003.40
Public Domain
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Location
226B American Modern
Print
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Did You Know?

A trailblazer, Savage was the first African American member of the National Association of Women Artists.

Description

Augusta Savage was the most acclaimed sculptor working during the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s and ‘30s, and Gamin is her most famous work. It was long thought that the image was a generic figure; however, recent research reveals that it depicts her nephew. The warm characterization likely arises from the close bond shared between artist and model. Although several small versions of the sculpture were produced, this life-size, hand-painted plaster is unique, and likely the oldest surviving example of the subject.
A realistic, hand-painted plaster sculpture depicts a Black boy's head and top half of his torso. The sculpture looks like bronze and the subject wears a flat cap and looks slightly to our left.

Gamin

c. 1929

Augusta Savage

(American, 1892–1962)
America

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