Woodboo
Datebefore 1978
MediumOil on canvas board
DimensionsCanvas board: 21 7/8 × 27 7/8 inches (55.6 × 70.8 cm)
Framed: 27 × 33 × 1 1/2 inches (68.6 × 83.8 × 3.8 cm)
Credit LineMuseum purchase, in honor of Dale Critz Sr. on his 90th birthday, September 21, 2022, in recognition of his lifetime of service to Telfair Museums, with funds provided by his family, friends and admirers.
Object number2022.34
Copyright© Estate of Hattie Saussy.
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 TextAmong the works of artists native to Savannah is the refinement and sincerity of Hattie Saussy. Born on St. Patrick's Day in 1890, Saussy was the daughter of a wealthy family whose background in art began in the early 1900s. Her first exposure to art was in the Savannah Public Schools where she studied under Lila Cabaniss. During her formative years Saussy frequented the Telfair Academy of Arts and Sciences where she was influenced by their extensive collection of French and American Impressionist works.
Inspired by her widowed mother, Saussy continued her artistic endeavors after high school at the Mary Baldwin Seminary in Staunton, Virginia. As an outstanding student she exhibited her work at the Jamestown Tricentary exposition in 1907 and with her mother moved to New York in 1908. In New York, Saussy studied at the New York School of Fine and Applied Arts (now the Parsons School of Design) under the tutelage of R. Sloan Bredin, the National Academy of Design, and the Art Students League where her instructors were Eugene E. Speicher, Eliot O'Hara, Frank V. DuMond and George Bridgman. In 1913, Saussy was invited to teach at the New York School of Fine and Applied Arts but opted instead to study in the Parisian studio of E. A. Taylor, a stained glass designer.
During her stay in Europe, Hattie Saussy traveled and sketched in Luxembourg, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, and Italy. With the onslaught of World War I, Saussy returned to the United States where she continued to work in New York and Savannah except for a brief stint as a government worker in Washington until the end of the war.
From 1920 to 1921 Saussy taught at the Chatham Episcopal Institute (now Chatham Hall) in Virginia and visited Europe again. Settling in Savannah permanently she became a full-time artist and studied under such artists as Adolphe W. Blondeim and Edward S. Shorter. Hattie Saussy was an active member in the Savannah Art Club and the Georgia Association of Artists and participated in several Georgia exhibits at the Telfair Academy, the Columbus Museum of Arts and Sciences, the Augusta-Richmond County Museum, and the High Museum.
Saussy blended her style of Impressionism and Realism to capture the leisurely life of Southern culture in the twentieth century with landscapes, genre scenes and portraits. Her works included oils and watercolors in which she captured the beauty and serenity of Southern life and her close circle of friends.
Several of her works exhibit her mastery of watercolor as well as light and shadow. Woodboo depicts a massive oak sheltering a meadow on a sunny day. Saussy captures the drooping moss and the play of light and dark on the forest floor with a delicate touch and a selective palette. She exhibits this mastery of touch again in a similar composition entitled Bonaventure in which she continues to examine a landscape composition this time focusing on two massive trees. The densely layered foliage on the tree tops contrasts to the staccato brush strokes of the ground. A collage of earthly colors is dabbled throughout the scene among translucent strokes of pigment. The last endeavor by Saussy is removed from her pastoral scenes and concentrates on the nature of the marshes. Palm Trees at Woodboo uses a repeat of quick strokes of her brush with muted tones. Hints of color accent the palms while the entire composition presents muted, washed colors.
Hattie Saussy was among several American artists who studied the beauty of the South and the American landscape. Her versatility in oils and watercolor showcases her talent in her Southern scenes.
KLH
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Chambers, Bruce. Art and Artists of the South, The Robert P. Coggins Collection. (South Carolina: University of South Carolina Press) p. 34.
Kelly, James C. The South on Paper, Line, Color, and Light. (South Carolina: Robert M. Hicklin Jr., Inc., 1985). p. 56
Vigtel, Gudmond. 100 Years of Painting in Georgia. Atlanta: Alston & Bird, 1992.) p. 24.
Subject MatterWoodboo Plantation, Savannah, Georgia, United States of America
