BUY BOOK

August 11th | 2pm CST

Gail Tanzer | Graven Images

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ABOUT THE BOOK

One of fourteen children, Augusta Savage was born in 1892 in a small town in the Deep South under oppressive Jim Crow laws, but she was determined to accomplish something special. Even though her father took a switch to her for making “graven images,” she was drawn to a clay pit near her home where she spent hours sculpting ducks and barnyard animals. Against all odds, she eventually became a leading sculptor, educator and champion of equal rights during the Harlem Renaissance.

Graven Images describes Augusta’s realism and sensitivity in capturing her subjects’ physiognomy; most of her subjects were African American. Although Blacks as well as members of the White establishment in New York City admired her sculptures, it was difficult for her to get buyers. Augusta suffered throughout her life from racial discrimination and traumatic personal losses. How she struggled to cope makes her story a very human one to which many of us can relate.

Augusta Savage died in relative obscurity on March 26, 1962, following a long bout with cancer. 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Gail Tanzer has an M.A. in social work from the University of Chicago. Amid her career as a social worker, she returned to school part-time to pursue her passion for art history. She has taught art history at two universities. She began writing historical fiction books to renew interest in great artists who once were highly regarded but are now little known. Her goal is to do on-site research by visiting each area where her selected artists lived and worked. So far, she has written four other books about artists. For this one, Jean Marie Pierre was her research assistant and editor.