Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

Augusta Savage: The Shape of a Sculptor's Life by Marilyn Nelson

1 review

thtblklibrarian's review

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

4.0

First Impression: First time reading a bio in poems like this

I studied fine art & art history for 5 years and I’ve never heard of Augusta Savage. So the story goes for countless Black women throughout history. This was a beautiful biography in prose; sometimes painful & hard to read but very honest. I’m so grateful we are filling in the gaps for these important figures. We learn about how she applied and was accepted for a summer art program in France. However upon finding out that she was Black, the US selection committee rescinded the acceptance, because they thought the white Americans would be uncomfortable working with a Black woman. We learned about this insane man Gould who harassed her so much that it seemingly forced her into seclusion outside of Harlem where she was renowned for her artwork. Due to her not being able to afford Bronze a lot of her work wasn’t cast and was lost. The work we still have shows a natural talent of someone who desperately wanted to see herself and her community in something more permanent than flesh.

This book is important as it expresses what life was like for a Black Woman artist during this time period. How so many anonymous and unknown artists were women who someone decided didn’t matter so their stories are somewhat lost.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Stalking, Racial slurs, Child abuse, Religious bigotry, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Gaslighting and Sexual harassment