Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller
Encyclopedia
Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller (icon ; June 9, 1877 - March 18, 1968) was an African American
artist
. She is best known as the first African American artist to make art celebrating Afrocentric themes. A multi-talented artist who created poetry and paintings, she is mainly known as a sculptor who explored her African-American roots. Fuller created emotion-packed work with strong social commentary, and became a forerunner of the Black Renaissance, a movement promoting African-American art.
. Based upon this work, she won a scholarship to the Pennsylvania Museum & School of Industrial Art (PMSIA), now The University of the Arts College of Art and Design, in 1894. In 1898, she received her diploma and teacher's certificate. Upon graduation in 1899, she traveled to Paris, where she studied at the Académie Colarossi
(sculpture) and École des Beaux-Arts
(drawing) and became a protégé of Auguste Rodin
. By the end of her career in Paris, Ms. Warrick had her works exhibited in many galleries including Siegfried Bing's Salon de l'Art Nouveau (Maison de l'Art Nouveau).
Returning to Philadelphia in 1902, she was shunned by members of the Philadelphia art scene because of the prevailing racial beliefs of the time. However, this treatment did not prevent Fuller from becoming the first African-American woman to receive a U.S. government commission when she was commissioned to create several dioramas depicting African-American historical events for the Jamestown
Tercentennial Exposition in 1907.
, a young, African-American doctor who went on to become a pioneering psychiatrist. The couple moved to Framingham, Massachusetts
, in 1910, close to the Westborough Psychiatric Hospital
where Dr. Fuller was employed. That same year, a fire at a warehouse in Philadelphia destroyed her tools and the paintings and sculptures she had created over the previous sixteen years. Emotionally devastated by the loss, Fuller turned her energies towards her family.
Currently, her son Robert Fuller is a teacher at Framingham High School
.
Winning numerous awards for her work over her lifetime, Fuller continued to exhibit her work until her last show at Howard University (Washington, D.C.) in 1961.
(Fuller Middle School) named after her and her husband located in Framingham, Massachusetts
.That school was formerly the Framingham South High School but was converted to its current use when Framingham South and North High Schools merged in 1991.
- excerpted from Now Is Your Time! the African-American struggle for freedom, Walter Dean Myers 1991
Associates
Contemporaries
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
. She is best known as the first African American artist to make art celebrating Afrocentric themes. A multi-talented artist who created poetry and paintings, she is mainly known as a sculptor who explored her African-American roots. Fuller created emotion-packed work with strong social commentary, and became a forerunner of the Black Renaissance, a movement promoting African-American art.
History
Born Meta Vaux Warrick to a comfortable, middle-class Philadelphia family who trained her in art, music, dance and horseback riding, Fuller's career as an artist began after one of her high school projects was chosen to be included in the 1893 World's Columbian ExpositionWorld's Columbian Exposition
The World's Columbian Exposition was a World's Fair held in Chicago in 1893 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. Chicago bested New York City; Washington, D.C.; and St...
. Based upon this work, she won a scholarship to the Pennsylvania Museum & School of Industrial Art (PMSIA), now The University of the Arts College of Art and Design, in 1894. In 1898, she received her diploma and teacher's certificate. Upon graduation in 1899, she traveled to Paris, where she studied at the Académie Colarossi
Académie Colarossi
The Académie Colarossi is an art school founded by the Italian sculptor Filippo Colarossi. First located on the Île de la Cité, it moved in the 1870s to 10 rue de la Grande-Chaumière in the VIe arrondissement of Paris, France....
(sculpture) and École des Beaux-Arts
École des Beaux-Arts
École des Beaux-Arts refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The most famous is the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts, now located on the left bank in Paris, across the Seine from the Louvre, in the 6th arrondissement. The school has a history spanning more than 350 years,...
(drawing) and became a protégé of Auguste Rodin
Auguste Rodin
François-Auguste-René Rodin , known as Auguste Rodin , was a French sculptor. Although Rodin is generally considered the progenitor of modern sculpture, he did not set out to rebel against the past...
. By the end of her career in Paris, Ms. Warrick had her works exhibited in many galleries including Siegfried Bing's Salon de l'Art Nouveau (Maison de l'Art Nouveau).
Returning to Philadelphia in 1902, she was shunned by members of the Philadelphia art scene because of the prevailing racial beliefs of the time. However, this treatment did not prevent Fuller from becoming the first African-American woman to receive a U.S. government commission when she was commissioned to create several dioramas depicting African-American historical events for the Jamestown
Jamestown, Virginia
Jamestown was a settlement in the Colony of Virginia. Established by the Virginia Company of London as "James Fort" on May 14, 1607 , it was the first permanent English settlement in what is now the United States, following several earlier failed attempts, including the Lost Colony of Roanoke...
Tercentennial Exposition in 1907.
Family
In 1909, she married Solomon Carter FullerSolomon Carter Fuller
Dr. Solomon Carter Fuller was a pioneering African-American psychiatrist who made significant contributions to the study of Alzheimer's disease. He was born in Liberia, the son of a previously enslaved African who had purchased his freedom and emigrated there...
, a young, African-American doctor who went on to become a pioneering psychiatrist. The couple moved to Framingham, Massachusetts
Framingham, Massachusetts
Framingham is a New England town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 68,318 as of the United States 2010 Census. -History:...
, in 1910, close to the Westborough Psychiatric Hospital
Westborough State Hospital
Westborough State Hospital or "Westborough Insane Hospital" is a historic hospital along Lyman Street, north of Chauncy Lake and junction of Milk Street and MA Route 9 Westborough, Massachusetts, which sat on more than 600 acres....
where Dr. Fuller was employed. That same year, a fire at a warehouse in Philadelphia destroyed her tools and the paintings and sculptures she had created over the previous sixteen years. Emotionally devastated by the loss, Fuller turned her energies towards her family.
Currently, her son Robert Fuller is a teacher at Framingham High School
Framingham High School
Framingham High School, or FHS, is an urban/suburban public high school in the town of Framingham, Massachusetts, United States, located approximately 20 miles west of Boston...
.
Winning numerous awards for her work over her lifetime, Fuller continued to exhibit her work until her last show at Howard University (Washington, D.C.) in 1961.
Legacy
There is a middle schoolMiddle school
Middle School and Junior High School are levels of schooling between elementary and high schools. Most school systems use one term or the other, not both. The terms are not interchangeable...
(Fuller Middle School) named after her and her husband located in Framingham, Massachusetts
Framingham, Massachusetts
Framingham is a New England town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 68,318 as of the United States 2010 Census. -History:...
.That school was formerly the Framingham South High School but was converted to its current use when Framingham South and North High Schools merged in 1991.
Poetry
DEPARTURE
The time is near (reluctance laid aside)
I see the barque afloat upon the ebbing tide
While on the shores my friends and loved ones stand.
I wave to them a cheerful parting hand,
Then take my place with Charon at the helm,
And turn and wave again to them.
Oh, may the voyage not be arduous nor long,
But echoing with chant and joyful song,
May I behold with reverence and grace,
The wondrous vision of the Master's face.
- excerpted from Now Is Your Time! the African-American struggle for freedom, Walter Dean Myers 1991
See also
- Harlem RenaissanceHarlem RenaissanceThe Harlem Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned the 1920s and 1930s. At the time, it was known as the "New Negro Movement", named after the 1925 anthology by Alain Locke...
Associates
- James Van Der ZeeJames Van Der ZeeJames Van Der Zee was an African American photographer best known for his portraits of black New Yorkers. He was a leading figure in the Harlem Renaissance. Aside from the artistic merits of his work, Van Der Zee produced the most comprehensive documentation of the period...
- W. E. B. Du Bois
Contemporaries
- Lois Mailou JonesLois Mailou JonesLois Mailou Jones was a artist who lived into her nineties and who painted and influenced others during the Harlem Renaissance and beyond during her long teaching career. She was born in Boston, Massachusetts and is buried on her beloved Martha's Vineyard in the Oak Bluffs Cemetery.-Life:Dr...
- Sargent Claude JohnsonSargent Claude JohnsonSargent Claude Johnson was one of the first Californian African-American artists to achieve a national reputation. He was known for Abstract Figurative and Early Modern styles. He was a painter, potter, ceramist, printmaker, graphic artist, sculptor, and carver. He worked with a variety of...
- Jacob LawrenceJacob LawrenceJacob Lawrence was an American painter; he was married to fellow artist Gwendolyn Knight. Lawrence referred to his style as "dynamic cubism", though by his own account the primary influence was not so much French art as the shapes and colors of Harlem.Lawrence is among the best-known twentieth...
- Archibald MotleyArchibald MotleyArchibald John Motley, Junior was an African-American painter. He studied painting at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago during the 1910s, graduating in 1918...
- Romare BeardenRomare BeardenRomare Bearden was an African American artist and writer. He worked in several media including cartoons, oils, and collage.-Education:...
Further reading
- Rhapsodies in Black: Art of the Harlem Renaissance (1997) by Richard J. Powell and David A. Bailey
- Harlem Renaissance: Art of Black America (1994) by Mary Schmidt CampbellMary Schmidt CampbellMary Schmidt Campbell, B.A., M.A., PH.D.; HON.: D.F.A., PH.D., Dean, Tisch School of the Arts; Associate Provost for the ArtsMary Schmidt Campbell was appointed Dean of the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University in 1991 and Associate Provost for the Arts in December 2004.Campbell is also...
- 250 years of Afro-American Art: An Annotated Bibliography by Lynn Moody Igoe with James Igoe. New York: Bowker, 1981.