Tea at Trianon: Edmonia Lewis

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Edmonia Lewis

A great American sculptress.

Much of Edmonia Lewis’ early life is unknown. She is believed to have been born some time between 1840 and 1845, the daughter of an Ojibwa (Chippewa) mother and a free black father from the West Indies. Her parents died when she was very young and her older brother Samuel provided guidance and material support for her.

Lewis attended Oberlin College but left before completing her studies. After an apprenticeship with a master sculptor in Boston, Massachusetts, she opened her own studio. She used the money she earned from selling portraits of abolitionists— plus funds from Samuel— to finance a trip to Italy, where she had dreamed of studying and working. By 1880, she had settled there permanently, returning to the US frequently to show and sell her work. She gained international acclaim for her portraits of abolitionists and for her depictions of ethnic and religious themes.

By the turn of the 20th century, the neoclassical genre Lewis favored became less popular, and she faded into obscurity. She never married and had no known children. The details of where and when Lewis died remained a mystery until fairly recently. However, in 2011, a British historian uncovered evidence the artist was living in London when she died on September 17, 1907. (Read entire post.)

Marilyn Richardson said...: Re: Edmonia Lewis.

Good info, with one glitch. I did discover info about the date and place of her death -- London, 1907, however, I am an American researcher. For further reliable info on Lewis, Google her name in quotes next to mine "Marilyn Richardson" also in quotes.

All the best,
MR

http://www.artfixdaily.com/blogs/post/51-sculptors-death-unearthed-edmonia-lewis-died-in-london-in-1907; March 28, 2013 at 7:45:00 AM EDT