Exhibit Showcases 19th-Century Black Sculptor Edmonia Lewis

"Sculpture has traditionally been a male-dominated art form until the emergence of female sculptors in the 19th century. One such artist was Edmonia Lewis, who not only carved a name for herself in the medium as a woman, but also broke the color barrier. Lewis was the most famous female sculptor of color in America. Done in neo-classical style, her sculptures were inspired by Civil War heroes, abolitionists, biblical characters and mythical creatures, as well as her Black-Indigenous heritage."

""In the course of my research, I learned that three of her sculptures were on exhibition at the San Jose Public Library," says curator and Stanford University professor Jennifer DeVere Brody, who's writing a forthcoming biography on Lewis. "And while they're accessible to the public, they are behind a wall and not in a museum context. So I had the idea to bring them to the Cantor and to the larger public.""

Edmonia Lewis emerged as a leading female sculptor of color working in a neo-classical idiom. Her subjects included Civil War heroes, abolitionists, biblical figures, mythical creatures and themes tied to her Black and Ojibwe heritage. Lewis was likely born near Albany in 1844, orphaned young, raised Catholic, and attended Oberlin College before leaving under racially charged accusations. She opened a Boston studio producing abolitionist medallions and later set up a Rome studio among female expatriates such as Harriet Hosmer and Emma Stebbins. Frederick Douglass visited her in Rome. Three of her sculptures were held at the San Jose Public Library and later exhibited at the Cantor Arts Center.

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