Meta Warrick Fuller: Her Eyes Were Ever Opened Unto Beauty, and All The World Was Art

"Her Eyes Were Ever Opened Unto Beauty, and All The World Was Art" –Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller

Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller was born in Philadelphia, PA on June 9, 1877. Her parents were successful entrepreneurs within the hair care industry and prominent members of Philadelphia's high society. She attended the Pennsylvania School of Industrial Art, for which she won a scholarship. In 1899, the young student went to Paris where she became acclaimed for the "audacity" of her sculptures. While there, she had a rapport with the famed sculptor, Rodin, and sought his critique of her work—to which he proclaimed, "Mademoiselle, you are a sculptor' you have the sense of form in your fingers." 

In 1909, Meta Vaux Warrick married Dr. Solomon C. Fuller; the first Black psychiatrist in the U.S. and a pioneer in neurological studies. She later had three sons and made a home with her family in Framingham, MA. In 1910, a disastrous fire destroyed some of her most valuable artworks held in storage in Philadelphia. Only a few examples of her early work remain. 

Through the years, she kept many diaries, often writing about her daily life, art-making, and poetry. Despite losing most of her early work, she persisted as an artist, and went on to receive many awards and commissions during her career. 

The following MinuteHistory video features digitized collection materials—photographs, diaries, published writings, etc.—and tells the story of Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller's life as a sculptor and poet. 

Additionally, DigitalSchomburg staff created a 3D model to represent her famed artwork, Ethiopia Awakening; which stands at roughly five and a half feet tall and cast in bronze. Explore this and other 3D models at www.DigitalSchomburg.org.

Arguably one of her most famous artworks is the life-sized sculpture entitled, "Ethiopia Awakening." Fuller was commissioned by W. E. B. Du Bois to create an artwork that would be included in his "Americans of Negro Lineage" section of the America's Making exposition, held in 1921 at an armory in New York City. 

The work Fuller created for this commission, "Ethiopica Awakening," takes on a pan-African presence, as the figure looks onward, into the future perhaps. Its pose and sculpted attire can be considered a nod to ancient Egyptian iconography. The headdress, reminiscent of a nemes or typical pharaoh's headdress, while the bottom half of the figure boasts a wrapping effect, similar to that of the Egyptian mummification process. 

Thinking conceptually, one could argue that the ancient Egyptian references make note of the pan-African or Black past, simultaneously as the figure looks ahead to the infinite possibility of its own future(s). 

In this way, "Ethiopia Awakening" foretells the rebirth of Black American cultural and artistic output, which would come to be known as the Harlem Renaissance. Although much of Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller's work predates the Harlem Renaissance (in addition to her earlier work being destroyed by fire), she can certainly be credited as an influence for many artists that followed. 

Several versions of this artwork exist in cast bronze, plaster, maquettes, etc., and are preserved at collecting institutions across America. 

To learn more about the research collections related to Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller held at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, visit the Library's catalog. View a selection of digitized materials related to Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller in NYPL's Digital Collections. 

MinuteHistory video by DigitalSchomburg: Digital Curator, Kimberly Annece Henderson and Research Assistant, Kiahra Read. Special thanks to Art and Artifacts Division, Photographs and Prints, and Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division staff.