Skip to main content
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 5

Naomi Savage
Classic Form

c. 1970's

About the Item

NAOMI SAVAGE (1927-2005) Classic Form, c. 1970’s Line-cut photo-engraving on zinc-plated copper 9 ½ x 7 ½ inches (plate) Titled and inscribed on artists label verso: “Classic Form” / Collection- Eve Kraft / N.F.S. / Insurance value / $500.00 Artists label on the reverse reads: NAOMI SAVAGE / DRAKES CORNER ROAD / PRINCETON, NEW JERSEYT / PHOTOGRAPH BY / NAOMI SAVAGE Original Kulicke Lucite frame PROVENANCE Ex. Collection Eve Kraft N.F.S. Private collection, Princeton, New Jersey Naomi Savage was born in Jersey City, New Jersey in 1927. From a very early age, Naomi was interested in the arts. Her mother encouraged her to pursue music, and as the niece of famous Dada and Surrealist painter, sculptor, and photographer, Man Ray, she was able to pursue her interests with much support from her family. During high school, Naomi attended a class taught by Bernice Abbott, Man Ray's assistant in the 1920’s, at the New School for Social Research. She later attended Bennington College, where she studied music and the arts. Shortly after college, she traveled to California to study and apprentice with her uncle, Man Ray. Ray was a great inspiration to the young Naomi; he encouraged her to let her imagination create her art. Savage said later in her life that her strongest inheritance enriching her artistic career came from her uncle, Man Ray. "I never forgot his insightfulness," she said. "With him you could try anything - there was nothing you were told not to do, except spill the chemicals. With Man Ray, you were free to do what your imagination conjured and that kind of encouragement was wonderful". In 1950, Naomi married painter, sculptor, and architect, David Savage. Shortly after, the couple moved to Lambertville, New Jersey, residing there for three years before moving to Princeton, New Jersey. She had her first exhibition in 1952 at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, and exhibited there again in 1960, 1966, and 1968. Her work can now be seen in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, the International Center of Photography in New York, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Fogg Museum at Harvard University, and the Noyes Museum in Oceanville, New Jersey. Savage pioneered the use of photographic engravings for which she is best known. With a photographic engraving, the actual metal photographic plate itself is the art. It is described as a kind of topographic photograph with forms in three dimensions and with a variety of metallic surfaces and tones. Some of her most famous photographic engravings involve a series of portraits of her sister, which she manipulated in countless ways over many years. But her most famous photographic engraving (perhaps her most famous work of all) is a fifty-foot long mural she did on the side of the Lyndon B. Johnson Library and Museum in Austin, Texas. Her approach to photography represents an involvement with process as medium, and an interest in art as image manipulation, a pursuit shared by contemporaries like Robert Heinecken, Betty Hahn, and Bea Nettles. Savage said that she had explored various techniques in an attempt to stretch photography with a personal interpretation. She experimented extensively with photogravure and photoengraving, employing these mechanical printing techniques for aesthetic effects rather than duplication. Savage used inked and intaglio relief prints to explore variations in color and texture, and considered the metal plate on which the photograph has been etched to be a work of art in its own right. She also combined media - collage, negative images, texture screening, multiple exposure, photograms, solarization, toning, printing on metallic foils - and made laser color prints. Savage died in Princeton, New Jersey in 2005.
  • Creator:
    Naomi Savage (1927 - 2005, American)
  • Creation Year:
    c. 1970's
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 9.5 in (24.13 cm)Width: 7.5 in (19.05 cm)
  • Medium:
    Engraving,Copper
  • Movement & Style:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
  • Gallery Location:
    Concord, MA
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU3541009783
More From This SellerView All
  • Dandelion
    By Naomi Savage
    Located in Concord, MA
    NAOMI SAVAGE (1927-2005) Dandelion, c.1960 Photo-engraving with painted additions on copper 4 3/8 x 3 ½ inches (plate) Inscribed on the reverse: Naomi Savage / (BK) / 1960? Naomi Savage was born in Jersey City, New Jersey in 1927. From a very early age, Naomi was interested in the arts. Her mother encouraged her to pursue music, and as the niece of famous Dada and Surrealist painter, sculptor, and photographer, Man Ray, she was able to pursue her interests with much support from her family. During high school, Naomi attended a class taught by Bernice Abbott, Man Ray's assistant in the 1920’s, at the New School for Social Research. She later attended Bennington College, where she studied music and the arts. Shortly after college, she traveled to California to study and apprentice with her uncle, Man Ray. Ray was a great inspiration to the young Naomi; he encouraged her to let her imagination create her art. Savage said later in her life that her strongest inheritance enriching her artistic career came from her uncle, Man Ray. "I never forgot his insightfulness," she said. "With him you could try anything - there was nothing you were told not to do, except spill the chemicals. With Man Ray, you were free to do what your imagination conjured and that kind of encouragement was wonderful". In 1950, Naomi married painter, sculptor, and architect, David Savage. Shortly after, the couple moved to Lambertville, New Jersey, residing there for three years before moving to Princeton, New Jersey. She had her first exhibition in 1952 at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, and exhibited there again in 1960, 1966, and 1968. Her work can now be seen in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, the International Center of Photography in New York, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Fogg Museum at Harvard University, and the Noyes Museum in Oceanville, New Jersey. Savage pioneered the use of photographic engravings for which she is best known. With a photographic engraving, the actual metal photographic plate itself is the art. It is described as a kind of topographic photograph with forms in three dimensions and with a variety of metallic surfaces and tones. Some of her most famous photographic engravings involve a series of portraits of her sister, which she manipulated in countless ways over many years. But her most famous photographic engraving (perhaps her most famous work of all) is a fifty-foot long mural she did on the side of the Lyndon B. Johnson Library and Museum in Austin, Texas. Her approach to photography represents an involvement with process as medium, and an interest in art as image manipulation, a pursuit shared by contemporaries like Robert Heinecken, Betty Hahn, and Bea Nettles...
    Category

    1950s American Modern Mixed Media

    Materials

    Copper

  • Bursting the Bounds
    By Donald De Lue
    Located in Concord, MA
    This De Lue design was chosen as the 111th issue of the prestigious Society of Medalists series. Both obverse and reverse bear a muscular nude constrained by the rectangular medal's ...
    Category

    1980s American Modern Nude Sculptures

    Materials

    Bronze

  • To The Ultimate Do We Pursue The Ideal
    By Paul Manship
    Located in Concord, MA
    This is an iteration of Paul Manship's medal that features the artist Barry Faulkner on the obverse, and the inscription of that version is marked "Barry Faulkner Painter MXMXV (1915...
    Category

    1910s American Modern Nude Sculptures

    Materials

    Bronze

  • Still Life (double-sided)
    By Alfred Henry Maurer
    Located in Concord, MA
    ALFRED MAURER (1868-1932) Still Life (double-sided), n.d. Oil on board 22 x 13 ½ inches Signed verso: A. H. Maurer PROVENANCE Estate of Gaston Lachaise [Salander-O'Reilly...
    Category

    1920s American Modern Still-life Paintings

    Materials

    Oil, Board

  • Secretary Hull,
    By William Cotton
    Located in Concord, MA
    WILLIAM COTTON (1880-1958) Secretary Hull, 1934 Pastel on paperboard 12 x 9 inches (sight) Signed at upper right: W. COTTON PROVENANCE Private Dealer, Massachusetts BROCK & CO., Concord, Massachusetts, 2017 EXHIBITED The Art Institute of Chicago, 16th International Exhibition of Water Colors – 1937, no. 216, as Secretary Hull. Note: This pastel depicts Secretary of State Cordell Hull, who was FDR's Secretary of State from 1933-1944 (the longest serving Secretary of State in U.S. history) and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize for his role in creating the United Nations. The portrait was reproduced on a March 1934 Vanity Fair cover...
    Category

    1930s American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

    Materials

    Illustration Board, Pastel

  • Seeking a Future
    By Philip Evergood
    Located in Concord, MA
    PHILIP EVERGOOD (1901-1973) Seeking a Future, 1952 Oil on canvas 24 x 18 inches Signed and dated at lower left: Philip Evergood / 52 Heydenryk frame PROVENANCE Alfredo Valent...
    Category

    1950s American Modern Figurative Paintings

    Materials

    Oil, Canvas

You May Also Like
  • George Tooker, Paul Cadmus, Monroe Wheeler, and George Platt Lynes on a Beach
    Located in London, GB
    Silver gelatin print, with numeric notation and stamp of collection of Jon Anderson (verso), 12cm x 18cm (41cm x 44cm framed). Jon Anderson was Paul Cadmus' partner of 35 years. The picture depicts the artists Paul Cadmus and George Tooker, the photographer, George Platt Lynes, and publisher, Monroe Wheeler. The painter Paul Cadmus (1904 - 1999) and married artists Jared (1902 - 1989) and Margaret French (1906 - 1998) comprise the photographic collaborative known by their acronym, PaJaMa. Beginning in 1937, and over the course of nearly two decades, the trio collectively staged photographs set against the backdrops of Fire Island, Provincetown, and Nantucket, among other locations. Their psychologically and sexually charged images often served as studies for the artists' subsequent paintings and works on paper. The statuesque quality of the figures and the stillness of each scenario are key characteristics of PaJaMa’s photographs...
    Category

    1940s American Modern Figurative Photography

    Materials

    Silver Gelatin

  • Circle Judge, Miami , Florida
    By Greg Lotus
    Located in Hudson, NY
    Print is available in sizes from small to mural. Edition of 25. If the exhibition piece is sold or the customer orders a different print size, the photograph is produced upon purchase. Please allow two weeks for production. Shipping time depends on method of shipping. Price is subject to availability. The Robin Rice Gallery reserves the right to adjust this price depending on the current edition of the photograph. ABOUT: Inside the gallery, the viewer is surrounded by an arresting display of glamour in the wild. Drawing inspiration from classical paintings and geometric forms, Greg Lotus' work has been compared to Herb Ritts, Man Ray and Richard Avedon, and his exhibition fuses his high fashion background with the rural environment of his youth. Yet Lotus admits to no formal training throughout his career, "I'm completely self-taught, lots of trial and error over the years." His foray into fashion photography was a twist of fate. In the 90s he was sharing living quarters with young models, and began photographing them to help them build their portfolios—work that eventually brought his work to the attention of agencies. When it comes to his own models, Lotus prefers the "unspoiled" types, holding castings to find those with quirk as well as beauty. "Over time, most artists develop their own palette and look using color and light in a very personal way. I express my own aesthetic sense which is what makes my work recognizable, regardless of subject or setting." "Swimmer Cap," is an example of Lotus' signature pop of color. Here, a cast of sinewy models convene in a locker room; their candy-colored swim caps give the piece its surreal, dreamlike quality. In the invitation piece, "Nurses" beauties in black bathing suits pop against a light background while being hosed down by a nurse. "You can almost feel the spray and hear the whoosh under the miniskirt," says Lotus. Besides the visual play on light and dark, he says water is the linking element that turns the piece theatrical and makes it breathe. Greg Lotus was born in 1967 in rural West Virginia. He shot in Paris and New York City before settling in Miami to pursue his craft. After landing his first major job in Europe, Lotus interviewed with the editor of Italian Vogue, Franca Sozzani...
    Category

    21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Photography

    Materials

    Archival Pigment

  • Minneapolis Three, MN, 2016
    By Bill Phelps
    Located in Hudson, NY
    The Robin Rice Gallery announces the new exhibition VISITOR by photographer Bill Phelps. Through light and shadow, a gaze, a mindset, Bill Phelps fourth solo show at the Robin Rice ...
    Category

    21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Portrait Photography

    Materials

    Archival Pigment

  • Minneapolis One, MN, 2016
    By Bill Phelps
    Located in Hudson, NY
    The Robin Rice Gallery announces the new exhibition VISITOR by photographer Bill Phelps. Through light and shadow, a gaze, a mindset, Bill Phelps fourth solo show at the Robin Rice ...
    Category

    21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Figurative Photography

    Materials

    Archival Pigment

  • Diver #3 edition of 25
    By RJ Muna
    Located in Hudson, NY
    The 8" x 10" editioned print . The image sits on that paper size estimated at 6" x 9" leaving a white border to mat over when framing. Olympics , Figurative, Sepia tone, athlete
    Category

    2010s American Modern Photography

    Materials

    Archival Paper

  • Marilyn Monroe, Glass Balanced on Left Knee
    By Milton Greene
    Located in Fairlawn, OH
    From: The Black Sitting, 1956 Original silver print photograph taken the the photographers studio in New York in 1956. Hand signed in ink within the photographers stamp verso. Pri...
    Category

    1950s American Modern Figurative Photography

    Materials

    Silver Gelatin

Recently Viewed

View All