Libra
Datec. 1970 - 1980s
MediumWood and glass
Dimensions15 1/2 × 19 3/4 × 1 3/4 inches (39.4 × 50.2 × 4.4 cm)
Credit LineMuseum purchase with Telfair Museum of Art acquisitions endowment funds.
Object number2020.2.1
Copyright© Estate of Ulysses Davis.
The images and text contained on this page are owned by Telfair Museums or used by the Museum with permission from the owners. Unauthorized reproduction, transmission or display of these materials is prohibited with the exception of items deemed “fair use” as defined by U.S. and international copyright laws.Label TextUlysses Davis is Savannah’s best-known self-taught artist. He began “whittling” as a young boy, a passion for carving that lasted his lifetime. In his spare hours between clients at his barbershop, Davis worked on his art, which ranged from portraits of historical and biblical figures to depictions of flora and fauna.
Using shipyard lumbar as his source material, Davis reduced the wood into smaller pieces with a hatchet or band saw and further refined the work with knives and chisels. He was even known to add details with hair clippers. The works on view here, Scorpio and Libra, were gifted to Raymond and Mina Smith, owners of the Savannah Barber Supply store that Davis frequented.
Davis was lauded in his time, notably through his inclusion in the exhibition “Black Folk Art in America, 1930–1980” at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in 1982. Uninterested in wider recognition, Davis refused to sell many of his works. "They are part of me.… If I sold these, I'd be really poor," he insisted. Today, most of Davis' works are in the collection of the Beach Institute in Savannah.
