Images of Lewis & Longfellow

Edmonia Lewis and Henry

Wadsworth Longfellow:

Images and Identities

at the Fogg Art Museum

through May 3

The "Edmonia Lewis and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: Images and Identities," exhibit at the Fogg Museum shows an admirable interest in a nineteenth century artist who has been mostly forgotten by history. But the exhibition attempts to cover too much ideological ground, and unfortunately trivializes its subject. Edmonia Lewis, the first African-American woman to make her living as a sculptor, was the daughter of a Black father and a Chippewa Indian mother. Longfellow, though his reputation has been eclipsed by that of Walt Whitman in the past century, was the most famous living American poet of his time.

Lewis and Longfellow met only once, during one of the poet's visits to Rome, where Lewis spent most of her adult life. Her interest piqued by the meeting, Lewis made several busts of Longfellow, which serve as the central pieces of the exhibit. Despite her African and American heritage, Lewis chose to work in the distinctly European genre of neoclassical sculpture, a fact that the exhibit tries to play up. Similarly, a marginalized artist's interest in a patriarchal icon like Longfellow is intended to serve as a metaphor for the difficulty of communication between members of a society polarized by racial and gender issues. In the grand scheme of "Images and Identities," Edmonia Lewis is seen not as an artist, but as a symbol. The subtle condescension towards Lewis is one of the exhibit's central flaws. It can't decide whether it wants to be a showcase of Lewis' works, or a political statement.

"Images and Identities" suffers not only from political rhetoric, but from lack of cohesion. The exhibit has some interesting pieces, including first editions of Phyllis Wheatley's poetry and Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin, as well as some fascinating daguerreotypes of African slaves. These artifacts, though historically relevant, relate only vaguely to Lewis' life. To be fair, historians know very little about the sculptor's background. But "Images and Identities" could improve by delving a little deeper into its central subject rather than focusing on the realities of all women or of all African-Americans.

By categorizing Lewis as a "peripheral artist," excluded from mainstream culture by her gender and race, the exhibit further minimizes her work.

The few actual works by Lewis exhibited (many of her works can be found at Howard and other historically African-American universities) show the artist's prodigious talent. Her bust of Longfellow, cast in the neoclassical Greek-god mold, is particularly compelling, especially considering the limited access Lewis had to artistic training. The exhibit includes Lewis' only known sketch, from her only drawing class, in the "Young Ladies Prepatory Department" at Oberlin College.

"Images and Identities" also includes some Longfellow-related pieces, including portraits of the poet by other artists, and some eerily fascinating Hiawatha kitsch. One of the stranger pieces is a ceramic plate depicting Hiawatha carrying off his new bride, Minnehaha, who, in a bit of artistic license-taking, has been made into a Nordic goddess. However, unless you have a real interest in the poet, most of the exhibits aren't very compelling. Some of the broader historical points the show makes are relevant but not very interesting.

Certainly, artists who weren't white and male faced enormous difficulties in acquiring respect and recognition during Lewis' era. "Images and Identities" doesn't do enough with this problem. It tends to grasp at straws where Longfellow and Lewis' relationship is concerned. The brochure accompanying the exhibition says, "Upon first examination, Longfellow and Lewis would seem to have little in common." By the end of the show, we realize that, indeed, Longfellow and Lewis don't have much in common. "Images and Identities" starts out on the right foot, but looses its way among rhetoric and generalizations.