The U.S. Postal System’s ongoing series of “Forever” stamps will soon honor Black Native sculptor Edmonia Lewis. The internationally acclaimed artist was a major figure in the 19th-century European art scene, and many of her marble art pieces are now housed in museums across the globe.
Eric Levenson of CNN reported that “Lewis [was] born in 1844 in Greenbush, New York, to a Black father and Chippewa (Ojibwa) Native American, attended Oberlin College in Ohio and established herself as a professional artist in Boston.”
“She moved to Rome in 1865 and there began to work with marble, sculpting busts of prominent figures as well as biblical and ancient historical works,” he added.
