Portrait of Hugh Samson, Augusta Savage

Archive Label 1999:
Hugh Samson graduated from KU in 1938 with a B.A. in English. A year later, he met Augusta Savage after viewing her sculpture in an exhibition of African-American art at the 1939 World's Fair. Samson endeavored to sell her sculptures to his friends. In appreciation, Savage modeled this bust of him, one of her few portraits of a white man. Savage's portraits often featured contemporary black leaders.

Savage is perhaps best known as an inspired teacher and an early proponent for the recognition of black American artists. As director of the Harlem Community Art Center during the Depression, a post she won despite the prejudices of the WPA administration, Savage exposed hundreds of people to many forms of art.