Antonio Salemme, “Head of Paul Robeson”

The base of the bust is not original. It was commissioned by the library when the bust was donated and fabricated at Johnson Atelier in 1987. Salemme himself designed the base and that is what JA created. The original sketches are included in this file if you want to scan them and add them to the page as well. The level of detail and correspondence between PPL, Spanel and Salemme is pretty neat. So Salemme knew it was at PPL and was quite pleased.

“In 1924 Salemme, after seeing Robeson in Emperor Jones, asked him to visit him in this studio. A full figure statue of Robeson was begun in 1924 and completed in 1926. In 1929 after Robeson’s return from his successful years in London, he again went to Salemme’s studio to pose for the portrait head which was completed that year. Salemme did an edition of four; one is in his own collection, one belongs to Paul Robeson, Jr., one is in     museum and the fourth was in the possession of A.N. Spanel. Paul Robeson, Jr. said that Salemme’s is most faithful portrait ever done of his father.”

In the file is a photocopy of an image from a book that shows Salemme working on the bust. It is sitting next to Robeson who is posing for it. This is pretty neat as well. I know this sort of this isn’t traditionally included with art metadata and what not but these are really neat bits that emphasize the significance of the piece.