WELCOME to the “Hermon A. MacNeil” — Virtual Gallery & Museum !
~ This Gallery celebrates Hermon Atkins MacNeil, of the Beaux Arts School American classic sculptor of Native images and American history. ~ World’s Fairs, statues, monuments, coins, and more… ~ Hot-links ( lower right) lead to works by Hermon A. MacNeil. ~ Over 200 of stories & 2,000 photos form this virtual MacNeil Gallery stretching east to west New York to New Mexico ~ Oregon to S. Carolina. ~ 2021 marks the 155th Anniversary of Hermon MacNeil’s birth. ~~Do you WALK or DRIVE by MacNeil sculptures DAILY! ~~ CHECK it OUT!
DO YOU walk by MacNeil Statues and NOT KNOW IT ???
May
19
Augusta Savage: #3 ~ ~ Eleanor Roosevelt Views “Realization” at Harlem Community Art Center
This old torn photo (right) shows Augusta Savage (center) with Eleanor Roosevelt (Right) visiting the Harlem Community Art Center funded by Worker’s Progress Administration developed by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
“REALIZATION”
There, Eleanor saw “Realization”by Augusta Savage. The sculpture (at left and below) represents a powerful interpretation of the experience a Black Couple at the slave block.
Playwright, Carolyn Gage, reflected in 2016 on the “Realization” piece in her blog. [ Realization by Augusta Savage ] https://carolyngage.weebly.com/blog/realization-by-augusta-savage ]
Her observations seem very appropriate to our platform here on Hermon Atkins MacNeil since his endorsement of Augusta Savage seems quite influential to her career and the sculptural Art of the Harlem Renaissance. Now, 100 years later is appears no less relevant.
Carolyn Gage wrote:
“First, it appears to be about enslavement. The title, in my understanding, refers to the moment when the last shreds of denial, distraction, or wishful thinking are stripped away, and these two are confronted with the absolute horror and helplessness of their situation. Because of the placement of the woman’s arms, it appears that her shirt or the top of her dress has been intentionally stripped away, and that she is attempting to protect herself.
The male could be either her son or her partner. In either case, he is posed in a position suggestive of a frightened child. This is a radical choice on the part of Savage.
Unquestionably, Savage was familiar with thesculpture The Greek Slave, by American sculptor Hiram Power. Completed in 1844, it went on to become one of the best-known and critically acclaimed artworks of the nineteenth century. UnlikeSavage, Powers’ words about his creation have been preserved:
“Her father and mother, and perhaps all her kindred, have been destroyed by her foes, and she alone preserved as a treasure too valuable to be thrown away. She is now among barbarian strangers, under the pressure of a full recollection of the calamitous events which have brought her to her present state; and she stands exposed to the gaze of the people she abhors, and awaits her fate with intense anxiety, tempered indeed by the support of her reliance upon the goodness of God. Gather all these afflictions together, and add to them the fortitude and resignation of a Christian, and no room will be left for shame.” When the Power’s statue went on international tour, the pamphet read: “It represents a being superior to suffering, and raised above degradation, by inward purity and force of character.”
Augusta Savage, REALIZATION, 1938. The School of Arts and Crafts, founded by Savage, and the Harlem Community Art Center, of which Savage served as the first director after its creation in 1937 with Works Progress Administration (WPA) aid. In the middle and late 1930s, federal arts projects under the New Deal provided an unprecedented level of encouragement to the development of Black artists and helped start the careers of a new generation of artists.
More on “Realization”
In the middle and late 1930s, federal arts projects under the New Deal provided an unprecedented level of encouragement to the development of Black artists and helped start the careers of a new generation of artists.
SOURCES:
[Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. “Works Progress Administration”. Encyclopedia Britannica, Invalid Date, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Works-Progress-Administration. Accessed 19 April 2023.
Here is ONE place to go to see sculpture of Hermon A. MacNeil & his students. Located in cities from east to west coast, found indoors and out, public and private, these creations point us toward the history and values that root Americans.
Daniel Neil Leininger ~ HAMacNeil@gmail.com
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WE DESIRE YOUR DIGITAL PHOTOS – Suggestions
1. Take digital photos of the work from all angles, including setting.
2. Take close up photos of details that you like
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