How Edmonia Lewis Changed The Art World Forever

Publish date: 2024-05-06

Though Edmonia Lewis is often recognized as one of the first Black professional sculptors in history, many of the details about her life are still unknown. The latter part of her life she appears to have spent in Europe, still creating her amazing artwork. According to ThoughtCo., she produced her last sculpture in 1883 and was allegedly visited by Fredrick Douglass while she lived in Rome.

Though she created a number of beautiful sculptures, unfortunately many of them have been lost over time. Some of her surviving works, such as "The Death of Cleopatra," "Hagar," and "Forever Free" have found homes in places like the Smithsonian Institute and The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Just as with the historical record of the rest of her life, the details surrounding Lewis' death are a bit fuzzy, as there were different years for her date of death. Recent research, however, indicates that she died on September 17, 1907. According to the New York  Post, Lewis was initially buried in an unmarked grave which was finally unearthed in 2012, in St. Mary's Catholic Cemetery in London, England. It now has a proper headstone, commemorating the sculptor.

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