The Cleopatra of the Race-Track
Works by pioneering 19th century African American artist appear in strange places
Marble bust of Christ recovered from closet in Scottish castle: ’Old Arrowmaker’ recovered from Québec City junk shop.
Historical Society of Forest Park, Ill. preserves statue of Nilotic Queen using unorthodox techniques
Edmonia Lewis has faded so far into obscurity that, until a few years ago, experts had no idea when the African American and indigenous sculptor died, where she was buried, or what had happened to the more than 100 marble pieces she created. The handful of working Lewis sleuths — the academics, conservators, and art aficionados who have devoted their careers to tracking her work — have only recently uncovered some of the most basic details of her life and death. Lewis belonged to a coterie of American expatriate women sculptors in Rome, where she went to live in 1865, and never married. She was born in East Greenbush, New York, to an Ojibwe mother and Haitian father. An older half brother, Samuel Lewis, struck it rich in the California gold rush and financed her art studies at Oberlin College. Lewis, who had faced intense discrimination and a near-lynching at Oberlin after she was accused of poisoning two white housemates (she was acquitted at trial in 1863), enjoyed success and …
