Women of Art History: Edmonia

Edmonia Lewis. 1844-1907. America.
Sculptor.

How many artists can you name? Chances are, you'll have named many more men than women. From the moment we are children, most of the artists and artworks we are exposed to are created by or about men. It's time to rebalance the scales and open up the artistic 'canon', introducing more women and ethnic minorities into the widely known narrative of art history. Here, I'll be trying to do just that in the style of a children's story, introducing you to one more woman from art and art history who, until now, you might not have known. 

Once upon a time, a little girl called Edmonia was orphaned and was raised by her aunts and her older brother. She helped her aunts sell Native American baskets to tourists. In 1859, her brother helped give her enough money for her to go to college and study art. 

Edmonia was Native American and African American. At Oberlin College there were only a handful of other non-white students. She really stood out.

A lot of people were racist towards Edmonia. They didn’t like how she looked and thought that made her a bad person. One night, Edmonia was attacked by a racist mob.

Edmonia couldn’t graduate from her degree because of all the violence against her. But she didn’t let that stop her.

She moved to Boston and began working on her craft: sculpting.

It was very unusual for a woman to be a sculptor. In Victorian times, people thought there were things only men could do. They thought only men should be able to be sculptors. They thought women should stick to sewing or painting. But Edmonia knew sculpting was her gift and she wanted to work hard at it.

Three male teachers refused to help her learn sculpting because she was a black woman. Finally, she managed to find one teacher, Edward August Brackett, who could show her how to make marble portrait busts.

Edmonia was very interested in famous abolitionists. That means people who fought for the end of slavery. John Brown and Colonel Robert Gould Shaw were two very brave men who fought for the rights of black people in America.

Edmonia Lewis, 'The Bust of Robert Gould Shaw', 1867

Edmonia made a marble bust of Colonel Robert and his family loved it. In fact, a lot of people loved it and she had to make lots and lots of them. She sold one hundred portrait busts of him!

Finally, in 1864, Edmonia opened her first exhibition to show everyone her sculptures.

Edmonia made enough money from her exhibition that she could travel to Rome in Italy, where she really wanted to live.

In America, people always spoke about her colour. In Italy, she thought people could judge her just on her art and not be so interested in what she looked like.

Edmonia Lewis, 'Forever Free', 1867

In 1866, Edmonia set up her own space in a studio. The studio had once been owned by Antonio Canova 100 years earlier. He was one of the most famous Italian sculptors of all time!

Edmonia worked on every single bit of the art process, and didn’t want to hire people to help her. She wanted to make sure that when people saw her work, they knew it was done by her.

Edmonia Lewis, 'The Arrow Maker,' 1872

Even though she often created sculptures that looked Italian, and wore big robes like Canova’s sculptures, Edmonia also never forgot her African American and Native American past. In ‘Forever Free,’ she depicted an African American man and women breaking the bonds of slavery. In another sculpture, ‘The Arrow Maker’ she showed a Native American father showing his daughter how to make an arrow.  

Edmonia’s sculptures became so well known that tourists began coming to her studio to see her artworks. She held many exhibitions in America and in Italy. In 1876, she created a huge marble sculpture that weighed about as much as two huge horses. It was called ‘The Death of Cleopatra’ was elegant and powerful. She showed it an a huge exhibition with lots of other artists in Philadelphia. Everyone agreed her Cleopatra sculpture was on of the best pieces there.

Edmonia Lewis, 'The Death of Cleopatra', 1876

Edmonia lived happily ever after in London.

Her legacy is important because she showed that despite others telling her she couldn’t be a sculptor because she was an ethnic minority and a woman, she did it anyway and became internationally successful.

Oberlin College

Oberlin College, where she was forced to leave university, have taken her success and tried to make change. They have named a centre after her for women and transgender people, helping others who may have been judged for their race or sex, trying to make a world where no one will have to go through Edmonia’s hardship.

 “I have a strong sympathy for all women who have struggled and suffered.”

—Edmonia Lewis

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