“The Ideal Works of Edmonia Lewis: Invoking and Inverting Autobiography” by Kirsten P. Buick

Kirsten Buick’s article “The Ideal Works of Edmonia Lewis: Invoking and Inverting Autobiography” focuses on several different works by the African-Indian sculptor. The article is beneficial in analyzing the cultural significance of Lewis’s works. Buick concentrates specifically on six of Lewis’s sculptures: Forever Free, Hagar in the Wilderness, Minnehaha, The Old Indian Arrowmaker and His Daughter, Hiawatha, and The Marriage of Hiawatha. Buick states, “while the subjects of her sculptures are African American and Native American women, invoking her autobiography, their features follow idealized, western European models” (190). In this
“The Ideal Works of Edmonia Lewis: Invoking and Inverting Autobiography” is a significant article in broader discussions about the roles of race and gender in the art world. Buick states that Lewis’s work “has a far-reaching cultural significance because it is inflected by each modifier, both singly and in combination, that can be used to describe her: ‘American,’ ‘sculptor,’ ‘African American,’ and ‘Native American’” (190). Edmonia Lewis is a noteworthy artist because she is “the first documented American woman sculptor of African Indian descent” (190). Although Lewis acted in opposition to Victorian standards, her art supported the gender ideals of the era. As Buick points out in her article, Lewis’s art supported the gender ideals of the nineteenth century despite her personal opposition to Victorian conventions. In spite of the fact that several other female sculptors made these same decisions, Lewis stands out. Her work is significant because she “not only selected subjects who conformed to Victorian gender ideals; she also depicted these women in an idealized way” (195). In addition to gender, Lewis’s race plays an important role in her art career. Buick explains “like other black women who entered the public arena in the nineteenth century, Lewis found that credibility, in the form of objectivity, was very difficult to achieve” (202). Lewis’s race not only asserted who she was as an artist, but