On View
On viewObject number2010.1
The Marriage of Hiawatha
Artist
Edmonia Lewis
(American, 1845-1907)
Date1872
Mediummarble
DimensionsOverall: 31 × 14 in. (78.7 × 35.6 cm)
base: 9 × 12 in. (22.9 × 30.5 cm)
base: 9 × 12 in. (22.9 × 30.5 cm)
Credit LineAcquired through the generosity of an anonymous donor
Exhibition History"Lasting Legacy: A Collection for Kalamazoo," Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, Kalamazoo, Michigan (Sep. 6, 2014 - Jan. 4, 2015).
"Common Ground: African American Art from the Flint Institute of Arts, Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, and the Muskegon Museum of Art," FIA, Flint, Michigan (Feb. 8 - Apr. 26, 2015), KIA, Kalamazoo Institute of Arts (Aug. 21 - Nov. 15, 2015), Muskegon Museum of Art, Muskegon, Michigan
"Resilience: African American Artists as Agents of Change," at the KIA (September 14, 2019 - February 16, 2020).
"Unveiling American Genius," KIA Permanent Collection Exhibition, Traditional, Markin, Nay and Groos Galleries (March 1, 2021 - December 31, 2023).Label TextEdmonia Lewis chose a fertile subject in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s 1855 epic poem, The Song of Hiawatha. The poem recounts the life of the mythical Ojibwa hero Hiawatha and reflects the era’s stereotypes of native people as a vanishing race of noble savages. Inspired by ancient Greek and Roman sculpture, Lewis’s Marriage of Hiawatha features the two lovers in an idealized, Neoclassical style. The poem’s enormous popularity and Longfellow’s celebrity ensured public interest in Lewis’s series of Hiawatha sculptures.
Lewis was one of a group of American, female sculptors who set up studios in Rome. The artist’s own narrative of her life varied over time, but there is little doubt this remarkable woman overcame many obstacles to become a successful artist. In a time when a female sculptor of African American and Native American ancestry was rare, Lewis’s depictions of Native American subjects captured the interest of the press and patrons alike.
