Sam savitt painter biography

Sam Savitt was.
Sam Savitt was an equine artist, author, and teacher, as well as an illustrator of over 130 books, in addition to 16 that he wrote.
Sam Savitt took an improbable journey in life.

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Remembering Artist Sam Savitt

The artist’s son, Roger Savitt, recalls life with his beloved father
on the centennial of his birth.

You could say that my father, Sam Savitt, took an improbable journey in life. Born exactly 100 years ago to a cash-strapped family in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, there was nothing to suggest that he would someday become this country’s preeminent equestrian artist—except perhaps for one thing: his announcement at age 12 that when he grew up, he wanted to paint and draw horses.

To those around him, this revelation must have sounded almost comical. Wilkes-Barre of the 1920s and 1930s was a lot better known for coal-mining than art or horses. And no doubt my father had little exposure to either one. But he stuck to his childhood ambitions, and when he reached high school, his art teacher suggested that if he really wanted to be a professional artist, he should enroll in Brooklyn’s Pratt Institute. On his application to Pratt, he submitted drawings in crayon. I’m not sure whether the selection of medium was naive or inspired, but the artwork got him accep

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Sam Savitt of North Salem, N.Y. – who lived from 1917 to 2000 – was considered the most accomplished American equestrian artist of his generation, and perhaps the most prolific, too. He was the official artist of the United States Equestrian Team and illustrated more than 130 books in addition to the 16 books that he wrote. (He co-authored three others.) Many were short stories aimed principally at young people, though he also wrote about the U.S. Equestrian Team, rodeo, wild horses and other equine-related topics. His classic Draw Horses with Sam Savitt (produced in 1981) is today published by the American Academy of Equine Art. (It was translated into French in 2009.)

His drawing style was spare and sketch-like and he was known for capturing the movement of horses with energy and authenticity, doing so with an economy of strokes. He painted and drew horses in a variety of media, including oil, watercolor, gouache, pencil, casein, ink and charcoal.

He worked for numerous commercial accounts and did portraits for such clients as Austine and William Randolph Hearst Jr., Augus

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Sam Savitt

American painter

Sam Savitt (March 22, 1917 – December 25, 2000) was an equine artist, author, and teacher, as well as an illustrator of over 130 books, in addition to 16 that he wrote. He was designated the official illustrator of the United States Equestrian Team, and was a founding member of the American Academy of Equine Art.^[1] He created several horse charts that are considered authoritative works and have been used by the Smithsonian Institution.^[1]

Early life

Sam Savitt was born in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania in 1917. He graduated from Pratt Institute in 1939, and was a veteran of the Second World War, where he held the rank of First Lieutenant. He was further educated at the New School, in sculpting, as well as the Art Students League of New York in visual arts.^[2] Savitt was also an active equestrian, and relocated to North Salem, New York in 1956.^[3]

Career

The New York Times said of his 1956 book Step-a-Bit: The Story of a Foal, that Savitt's drawings had "great charm and spontaneity".^[