Edmonia Lewis, Portrait, Circa 1900

This is a very early portrait of Edmonia Lewis, (aka "Wildfire") circa 1900.

Edmonia Lewis (1844-1907) was a woman of African and Native American descent. Born in New York, in 1865 she moved to Rome, where she spent most of her career. She gained international recognition as a sculptor, so much so that in 1877 Ulysses S. Grant commissioned her to sculpt a bust of him. Some of her [marble] works include The Death of Cleopatra, 1876, Old Arrow Maker, 1872, and Cupid, 1876 which are all in the Smithsonian International Art Museum. She sculpted biblical scenes and figural works dealing with her Native American heritage and the oppression of Black people. Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote of their adventures together in the novel, The Marble Faun. She was truly one of America's greatest sculptors.

As most artists know, women both in the US, and abroad, were not allowed in salons or allowed to learn the human figure in classes. To achieve the recognition that Ms. Lewis achieved during that time is remarkable. 

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