Edmonia Lewis: 19th century Sculptor of African American and Native American Hertiage.

Edmonia Lewis was a nineteenth century sculptor. She was part Native American (Chippewa) and part African American. Her parents died when she was a very young girl.She studied art in Boston in 1863 and traveled to Rome in 1865 where she lived til her death. Her sculptures were done in the neoclassical style, but she included human rights and racial themes in her pieces. Lewis was very popular in Europe and America in the 1860s and 70s. One of her popular pieces was called Old Indian Arrowmaker and His Daughter. It was inspired by The Song of Hiawatha a poem by Longfellow. Lewis was a big fan of Longfellow. She was the first major sculptor of African American and Native American heritage. Facts about Edmonia Lewis's life are few and her history. The date and place of her death is still unknown. "Edmonia Lewis pursued her goals and insisted upon being a part of the period and a part of that movement and she...fits now brightly into history" said by art historian David Driskell.

 


















 Old Indian Arrowmaker and his Daughter                                         Death of Cleopatra



Works Citied
Kleeblatt, Norman L. "Master Narratives/ Minority Artists." Art Journal 57.3 (1998): 29.
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' The Incredible Edmonia Lewis: The First Major Sculptor of African American and Native
        American Heritage'. 1999, New Crisis (15591603), 106,1,p.62. Academic Search Premier.
Richardson, Marilyn." Edmonia Lewis At Mcgrawville: The Early Education of a
       Nineteenth- Century Black Woman Artist', Nineteenth- Century Contexts 22.2 (2000): 239.
       Academic Search Premier.
Written by: Britany Burris