Child of the Fire: Mary Edmonia Lewis and the Problem of Art History’s Black and Indian Subject
Precious little reliable biographical information exists beyond the facts that Mary Edmonia Lewis was born free circa 1845, that she was of Native American and African American heritage, and that while she was a student at Oberlin College, she was accused of fatally poisoning two white female students. Found innocent after surviving a severe beating, Lewis moved to Boston, where she secured the support of prominent abolitionists, launched her remarkable career, and soon “escaped the racial politics of America” by setting up shop in Rome. Buick painstakingly analyzes Lewis’ standing as both “celebrity” and, given the racism of the time, “specimen.” By scrutinizing Lewis’ neoclassical marble sculptures and her interpretations of history (Cleopatra), the bible (Hagar), and American literature (Longfellow’s The Song of Hiawatha), Buick pushes beyond the assumption that Lewis’ art was merely an “expression of her identity.” Rich in testimony to Lewis’ impressive achievements as a “facile manipulator of marble and white patrons,” Buick’s rigorously argued and refreshingly forthright inquiry articulates the challenges inherent in the sculptures of an enigmatic, determined, and courageous American artist. --Donna Seaman