Lift Every Voice and Sing, also known as The Harp, was a plaster sculpture by African-American artist Augusta Savage. It was commissioned for the 1939 New York World's Fair, and displayed in the courtyard of the Pavilion of Contemporary Art during the fair at Flushing Meadow.

Also called The Harp (a name Savage reportedly hated), the piece depicted a kneeling Black man holding a bar of music and 12 Black chorus singers representing strings on a harp, the sounding board of which was no less than the hand of God.

Feb 12, 2021 · In 1939, Savage put her experience with repression and resilience to use in her most remarkable work: the lost 16 foot masterpiece known as “The Harp,” or as she evidently preferred, “Lift Every Voice and Sing.”

Apr 3, 2024 · Twelve singers formed the strings of a harp, the body of which body represented the hand of God, with a kneeling boy in the foreground. Savage had reportedly titled the work after the spiritual hymn of the same name, colloquially known as the “ Black National Anthem.” The fair retitled it The Harp. The work struck the fair’s 44 million attendees.

Oct 12, 2020 · The Harp was constructed by black female artist and activist Augusta Savage (1892-1962) for the New York World’s Fair in 1939. The work of art was destroyed soon after it was open to the public due to the lack of financial support Savage received to bronze the sixteen-foot tall structure.

Lift Every Voice and Sing, also known as The Harp, was a plaster sculpture by African-American artist Augusta Savage. It was commissioned for the 1939 New York World's Fair, and displayed in the courtyard of the Pavilion of Contemporary Art during the fair at Flushing Meadow.

The work of art was destroyed soon after it was open to the public due to the lack of financial support Savage received to bronze the sixteen-foot tall structure. Following the destruction of The Harp, smaller versions of the piece were constructed and bronzed.

Oct 23, 2017 · The artwork, which portrayed twelve black singers as harp strings in height order, had to be destroyed because of the lack of funding for bronze coating and a lack of storage facilities. Even in its short lifespan, The Harp was symbolic in representing the desire to rise as a community, together.

What was a true accomplishment in Savage’s career would result in disaster. The destruction of Savage’s signature piece has denied America a historically and artistically significant work. Therefore, the Ciesla Foundation is dedicated to restoring the …

Savage was an important artist held back not by talent but by financial limitations and sociocultural barriers. Most of Savage’s work has been lost or destroyed but today, a century after she arrived in New York City at the height of the Harlem …