Gamin
Medium
hand-painted plaster
Dimensions
{"overall":{"height":0.445,"width":0.242,"depth":0.204}}
Classification
Sculpture
Department
American Painting and Sculpture
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
Accession Number
2003.40
Tags
About this artwork
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 ex...