Edmonia Lewis: Pioneer In Carving Your Fate

Mary Edmonia Lewis was a pioneering American sculptor who worked most of her career in Rome, Italy.

Born in New York, Edmonia Lewis was the first African-American woman to achieve international fame. In addition, she was the first African American to achieve recognition as a sculptor in the world of fine arts.

Many American artists of the 19th and 20th century enjoyed fame in their own country. However, Edmonia Lewis is one of the few exceptions.

Get to know her life and work, find out how she managed to overcome the obstacles that society imposed on her, break the molds and, against all odds, conquer world recognition.

Edmonia Lewis Childhood and Youth

Edmonia Lewis was born as a free black woman around 1844 in Greenbush, New York. She had a brother who, as an adult, had financial success thanks to gold mining.

Little Edmonia was the daughter of a black man, the servant of a gentleman. His mother, also black, had Ojibwa and African ancestors. The Ojibwa are one of the largest native peoples in North America, along with the Cherokee and Navajo.

Edmonia was orphaned around the age of ten. As she later recounted, she was raised by some members of the Ojibwa family near Niagara Falls.

Mary Edmonia Lewis had little education, however, with the support of an older brother, she attended Oberlin College in Ohio. There, she studied from 1860 to 1863, emerging as a gifted artist.

At that time, the abolitionist movement was active on the Oberlin campus, and it had a major impact on Edmonia’s subsequent artistic career.

the price of success

The young woman had to overcome countless obstacles to become a respected artist. At Oberlin College, she was falsely accused of trying to poison two white classmates.

As a result, she was captured and beaten by a white mob. However, Lewis recovered from the attack and moved to Boston after the charges against her were dropped.

In Boston, Lewis befriended the abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison and the sculptor Edward A. Brackett. It was Brackett who taught Lewis sculpture and helped her set up her own studio.

In the early 1860s, Lewis began to gain recognition for his work, making an impact in the art world. His clay and plaster medallions, representing Garrison, John Brown and other abolitionist leaders, opened a small door to commercial success.

In 1864 Lewis created a bust of Colonel Robert Shaw, a Civil War hero who had died at the head of the 54th Massachusetts Regiment. Thanks to this work, he achieved his first considerable commercial success.

The money he earned after selling copies of the bust allowed him to move to Rome. Why move to the Italian city?

By that time, Rome had become the home of several American artists who had been expatriates, including several women who had come to the city in search of an opportunity.

Edmonia Lewis and her life in Rome

In Italy, Lewis continued to work as an artist. His work mainly dealt with a theme linked to their African-American cultural heritage and, secondarily, to their religion, Catholicism.

One of his most applauded works was ‘Sempre Livre’ (1867), a sculpture depicting a black man and woman emerging from the bonds of slavery. In addition, Lewis also carved busts of American presidents, including Ulysses S. Grant and Abraham Lincoln.

Another example of connection to his heritage is seen in ‘The Arrow Maker’ (1866), a play inspired by his aboriginal roots. The play shows a father who teaches his little girl how to make an arrow.

One of his most famous works was a representation of the Egyptian queen Cleopatra, entitled ‘The Death of Cleopatra’. It received critical recognition when it was exhibited at the Philadelphia Exposition in 1876, and in Chicago two years later.

The two-ton sculpture never returned to Italy because Lewis could not pay the exorbitant costs of its shipping. However, it was stored and rediscovered several decades after his death.

The last years and legacy of pioneer Edmonia Lewis

As with her childhood, Edmona Lewis’ last years are shrouded in mystery. It is known that she continued to exhibit her work until the late 1890s.

In addition, he received a visit from Frederick Douglass in Rome and never married or had children. However, there is little data on his last decade of life.

Lewis is believed to have spent his last years in Rome. Despite this, some documents have recently been discovered indicating that she died in London in 1907.

Despite her status as a woman and black, she managed to receive applause for her work in life. However, the real recognition would come after his death, when the art world finally surrendered to his magnificent work.

In the late 20th century, Lewis’ life and art received posthumous acclaim and his work was featured in numerous exhibitions.

Some of his most famous pieces today are in the permanent collections of the Smithsonian Museum of American Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

We also found some samples at the Cleveland Museum of Art and the Howard University Art Gallery. In this way, the legacy of pioneer Edmonia Lewis can be appreciated, applauded and, finally, recognized.