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 in 1958, and was a founding member of the American Academy of Equine Art in 1980. He created several horse charts that are considered authoritative works and have been used by the Smithsonian Institution. He was also a member of the Society of Illustrators and the Society of Animal Artists.
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's Asia and Pacific theater, 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. Savitt was also an active equestrian, and relocated to North Salem, New York in 1956.
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". That year Savitt was named the official artist of the United States Equestrian Team. Then his book Midnight, Champion Bucking Horse won the Boys Club of America junior book award in 1958. In 1950, he illustrated the seminal book on English equestrianism, Learning to Ride, Hunt, and Show by Gordon Wright.
His paintings have been used in the posters for races like the Kentucky Derby and the National Horse Show. His work went to galleries and commercial accounts, and he painted portraits of people such as William Randolph Hearst Jr. and Raymond Firestone with their horses. It was at times considered a mark of greatness for a race horse to have been illustrated and published by Savitt. He has also created paintings of horses participating in competitive polo. In addition, his subjects included fox hunting, rodeo, steeple-chasing and show jumping. His 1981 book Draw Horses with Sam Savitt is considered to be a seminal book in equine portraiture. He also did portraits of dogs.
Savitt created this painting called "Last Race of the Day" in 1988.
In 1998 Savitt was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award from the North American Horseman's Association. The association had previously awarded him the title of Equine Artist of Distinction. Equus Magazine included him in their list of the world's most influential horsemen of the 20th century. Savitt is the cofounder of the American Academy of Equine Art, with Henry Koehler, Marilyn Newmark, and June Harrah. With his wife, Bette, he opened Black Horse Press in 1963, which sold his charts and reproductions of his pieces. His works have been used as the illustrative basis of home furnishings and décor by various companies.
Later life and death
Savitt died at the age of 83, in 2000.
List of works
Author
Step-A-Bit; the Story of a Foal (1956)
Midnight, Champion Bucking Horse (1957)
There was a Horse (1961)
Around the World with Horses (1962)
Rodeo: Cowboys, Bulls, and Broncos (1963)
Vicki and the Black Horse (1964)
A Day at the LBJ Ranch (1965)
America's Horses (1966)
The Equestrian Olympic Sketchbook (1969)
True Horse Stories (1970)
Ups and Downs; A first guide to riding and horse care (1973) (co-author: Suzanne Wilding)
Wild Horse Running (1973)
How to take care of your horse until the vet comes (1975) (co-author: Herb Marlin)
Vicki and the Brown Mare (1976)
Great Horses of the United States Equestrian Team (1977) (co-author: William Steinkraus)
The Dingle Ridge Fox and Other Stories (1978)
Draw Horses with Sam Savitt (1981)
One Horse, One Hundred Miles, One Day: the story of the Tevis Cup endurance ride (1981)
