Edmonia Lewis
Said in Stone
9780226847245
Edmonia Lewis
Said in Stone
A richly illustrated volume accompanying the first retrospective of Black and Indigenous American sculptor Edmonia Lewis.
Edmonia Lewis (1844–1907) broke international, racial, and gender barriers as a young artist who traveled to Rome in 1866 to join the leading American sculptors of her generation. She created acclaimed figurative works in marble and achieved great success, but her status as a Black woman of Indigenous (Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation) descent complicated the critical reception of her oeuvre. After her death, her contribution to American sculpture was largely overlooked.
Accompanying the first monographic retrospective of the artist, this lavishly illustrated volume reproduces examples of all Lewis’s known works and shares new discoveries that illuminate her artistic vision of community, reform, and resilience. Essays place her sculptures in conversation with abolitionist and feminist movements and consider the themes Lewis’s art addressed, including Indigenous artistry, social and political reformers, and religious and mythological subjects.
Edmonia Lewis (1844–1907) broke international, racial, and gender barriers as a young artist who traveled to Rome in 1866 to join the leading American sculptors of her generation. She created acclaimed figurative works in marble and achieved great success, but her status as a Black woman of Indigenous (Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation) descent complicated the critical reception of her oeuvre. After her death, her contribution to American sculpture was largely overlooked.
Accompanying the first monographic retrospective of the artist, this lavishly illustrated volume reproduces examples of all Lewis’s known works and shares new discoveries that illuminate her artistic vision of community, reform, and resilience. Essays place her sculptures in conversation with abolitionist and feminist movements and consider the themes Lewis’s art addressed, including Indigenous artistry, social and political reformers, and religious and mythological subjects.
272 pages | 175 color plates | 9 1/2 x 11 1/2
Art: American Art, Art--General Studies
Native American and Indigenous Studies
Women's Studies:
Table of Contents
Directors’ Forewords
Said in Stone
Jeffrey Richmond-Moll and Shawnya L. Harris
—
INDIGENOUS ARTISTIC WORLDS
ON BLACK-INDIGENOUS ANCESTRY
Tracing Descent, Legislating Identity
Cody Groat
FROM MYTH TO LIFE
Sculpture, Souvenir Art, and Anishinaabe Relationality
Joseph Mizhakiiyaasige Zordan
—
RELATIONS
BEYOND SCULPTURE
Black Women’s Networks in Boston
Caitlin Meehye Beach
CHISEL AND RAZOR
Tools of Publicity and Belonging in the Lewis Family
Melissa Ragain
AN EMANCIPATORY FORM
The Carte de Visite
Makeda Best
—
DIPLOMACIES
“IN THE CITY OF THE CAESARS”
Sculpting Indigeneity in Rome
Gloria Bell
COLUMBUS AND NINETEENTH-CENTURY INDIGENOUS FUTURES
Lisa Blee
—
FACTS AND FICTIONS
“HOW EDMONIA LEWIS BECAME AN ARTIST”
Print Culture and Public Persona
Melissa M. B. Flowers
DAUGHTER OF TIME
Melissa Ragain
—
RELIGION AND MYTH
RELIGION, COMMUNITY, TRANSCENDENCE
A Sculptor’s Activist Spirit
Jeffrey Richmond-Moll
“GIVE ME LIBERTY OR GIVE ME DEATH”
Classical Precedents for Forever Free
Melissa L. Gustin
—
MATERIALITIES
DARING TO TOUCH
Neoclassical Material Politics
Ebonie Pollock
MAKING HIAWATHA’S MARRIAGE AND THE OLD ARROW MAKER
A Technical Study
Amy Jones Abbe and Jeffrey Richmond-Moll
—
LEGACIES
CLAIMING KIN
A Twentieth-Century Legacy
Shawnya L. Harris
CROSSING CURRENTS
Looking for Edmonia in Great Britain
Lydia Peabody
INDIGENOUS FRAMEWORKS AND NEW DIRECTIONS
A Convening
Karen Kramer
AFTERWORD
The Question of Mary Edmonia Lewis
Kirsten Pai Buick
—
“How Edmonia Lewis Became an Artist”
facsimile, follows page 209
Chronology
Notes
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
Contributors
Index
Said in Stone
Jeffrey Richmond-Moll and Shawnya L. Harris
—
INDIGENOUS ARTISTIC WORLDS
ON BLACK-INDIGENOUS ANCESTRY
Tracing Descent, Legislating Identity
Cody Groat
FROM MYTH TO LIFE
Sculpture, Souvenir Art, and Anishinaabe Relationality
Joseph Mizhakiiyaasige Zordan
—
RELATIONS
BEYOND SCULPTURE
Black Women’s Networks in Boston
Caitlin Meehye Beach
CHISEL AND RAZOR
Tools of Publicity and Belonging in the Lewis Family
Melissa Ragain
AN EMANCIPATORY FORM
The Carte de Visite
Makeda Best
—
DIPLOMACIES
“IN THE CITY OF THE CAESARS”
Sculpting Indigeneity in Rome
Gloria Bell
COLUMBUS AND NINETEENTH-CENTURY INDIGENOUS FUTURES
Lisa Blee
—
FACTS AND FICTIONS
“HOW EDMONIA LEWIS BECAME AN ARTIST”
Print Culture and Public Persona
Melissa M. B. Flowers
DAUGHTER OF TIME
Melissa Ragain
—
RELIGION AND MYTH
RELIGION, COMMUNITY, TRANSCENDENCE
A Sculptor’s Activist Spirit
Jeffrey Richmond-Moll
“GIVE ME LIBERTY OR GIVE ME DEATH”
Classical Precedents for Forever Free
Melissa L. Gustin
—
MATERIALITIES
DARING TO TOUCH
Neoclassical Material Politics
Ebonie Pollock
MAKING HIAWATHA’S MARRIAGE AND THE OLD ARROW MAKER
A Technical Study
Amy Jones Abbe and Jeffrey Richmond-Moll
—
LEGACIES
CLAIMING KIN
A Twentieth-Century Legacy
Shawnya L. Harris
CROSSING CURRENTS
Looking for Edmonia in Great Britain
Lydia Peabody
INDIGENOUS FRAMEWORKS AND NEW DIRECTIONS
A Convening
Karen Kramer
AFTERWORD
The Question of Mary Edmonia Lewis
Kirsten Pai Buick
—
“How Edmonia Lewis Became an Artist”
facsimile, follows page 209
Chronology
Notes
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
Contributors
Index