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Edmonia Lewis

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Artist

The Resume

    (circa July 4, 1844-September 17, 1907)
    Born in Greenbush, New York
    Birth name was Mary Edmonia Lewis
    Sculptor
    Moved to Rome (1866)
    Works include 'Old Arrow-Maker and His Daughter' (1866), 'Forever Free' (1867), 'Hagar' (1868), 'The Death of Cleopatra' (1876) and 'The Adoration of the Magi' (1883)

Why she might be annoying:

    There is little reliable information about her early life, with Lewis frequently tailoring her recollections to meet audience expectations.
    She claimed birth years ranging from 1842 to 1854.
    While attending Oberlin College, she was arrested for stealing art supplies and for the non-fatal poisoning of two classmates with cantharides (Spanish fly).
    The neoclassical style she worked in went out of vogue late in her life and she died in obscurity.
    Her 'Death of Cleopatra' went from being displayed at the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia to being purchased by a gambler to mark the grave of a racehorse named Cleopatra.

Why she might not be annoying:

    She was of mixed African American and Native American (Mississauga and Ojibwe) heritage.
    Both her parents died before she was nine and she was adopted by two maternal aunts.
    She was found not guilty of the theft due to a lack of evidence.
    The poisoning charges were dismissed after her attorney pointed out that doctors had never tested the alleged victims' urine or vomit for poisons, so there was no evidence a crime had been committed.
    Between the alleged poisoning and the dismissal of the case, she was beaten and left for dead by unknown assailants (1862).
    She was the first African American sculptor to achieve international recognition.
    She was commissioned by President Ulysses S. Grant to sculpt his portrait bust (1877).
    In the 1990s, 'The Death of Cleopatra' was rediscovered, restored, and donated to the Smithsonian.

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 4 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 16 Votes: 6.25% Annoying