(ART) SAVAGE AUGUSTA TERESA STAATS Lift Every Voice and Sin

Sale 2308 - Lot 175

Price Realized: $ 1,560

?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price

Estimate: $ 800 - $ 1,200

(ART.) SAVAGE, AUGUSTA--TERESA STAATS. Lift Every Voice and Sing. Gelatin silver print photograph, 9-3/4 x 7-3/4 inches, mounted on a large piece of cardboard (14 x 11) , with the title, the photographer's name and date of the photograph in pencil on the mount. New York, 1940-1941

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Additional Details

A photograph of a magnificent piece of sculpture by African American artist and sculptor Augusta Savage (1892-1962). This piece was commissioned by the New York World's Fair Committee for the African American exhibit in 1939. Her work was titled Lift Every Voice and Sing, inspired by the song (now the African American anthem) written by James Weldon and Rosamond Johnson. The 16-foot-tall sculpture was the most popular and most photographed work at the fair. Small metal souvenir copies were sold (today worth thousands of dollars), and many postcards of the piece were made. Tragically, Savage did not have funds to have this large work cast in bronze, or even the money to move and store it. So, like other temporary installations, the sculpture was destroyed at the close of the fair. Fragments of the piece have appeared on the market from time to time. The photographer Teresa Staats (1892-19?) was a graphic artist and painter, who obviously thought this wonderful piece was worth preserving if only the image. She is cited in the Harmon Foundation Exhibits of 1933.