Edmonia Lewis retrospective opens at Peabody Essex Museum, the first comprehensive survey of the pioneering sculptor.
From February 14 to June 7, 2026, the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts, will host 'Edmonia Lewis: Said in Stone,' marking the first comprehensive exhibition of the 19th-century sculptor. Curated by Shawnya L. Harris and Jeffrey Richmond-Moll, the showcase includes 30 pieces, the result of seven years of preparation. Born in 1844, Lewis became the first artist of Black and Indigenous descent in the U.S. to achieve global recognition. She attended Oberlin College, where she met and was inspired by Frederick Douglass. After relocating to Boston in 1864 and then to Rome in 1866, her 1867 sculpture 'Forever Free' honored emancipation. Lewis passed away in London in 1907, with her grave receiving a headstone in 2017. The exhibition will also tour Georgia and North Carolina in 2026-2027, accompanied by a book from Jennifer DeVere Brody set for release in June 2026.
Key facts
- Edmonia Lewis (1844-1907) was the first Black and Indigenous U.S.-born sculptor to gain international fame.
- Her retrospective 'Edmonia Lewis: Said in Stone' runs at the Peabody Essex Museum from February 14 to June 7, 2026.
- The exhibition features 30 works, curated by Shawnya L. Harris and Jeffrey Richmond-Moll after seven years of planning.
- Lewis studied at Oberlin College and was encouraged by Frederick Douglass to pursue art in Boston.
- She moved to Rome in 1866, carving marble sculptures herself in Antonio Canova's former studio.
- Her sculpture 'Hiawatha's Marriage' set a $1.63 million auction record at Sotheby's New York in January 2024.
- Lewis's 'The Death of Cleopatra' (1876) is too fragile to travel and is represented by a reproduction.
- The show will travel to the Georgia Museum of Art and North Carolina Museum of Art in 2026-2027.
Entities
Artists
- Edmonia Lewis
- Shawnya L. Harris
- Jeffrey Richmond-Moll
- Frederick Douglass
- Edward Augustus Brackett
- Harriet Goodhue Hosmer
- Emma Stebbins
- Florence Freeman
- Antonio Canova
- Albert Bierstadt
- Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller
- Sanford Biggers
- Sonya Clark
- Auriea Harvey
- Jennifer DeVere Brody
- Samuel Lewis
- John Brown
- Robert Gould Shaw
- William H. Carney
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
- Ulysses S. Grant
- Mary Elizabeth Williams
- Abigail Osgood Williams
- Marilyn Richardson
- Bobbie Reno
- Gisela Torres
- Nancy Elizabeth Prophet
- Peggy Lee
Institutions
- Peabody Essex Museum
- Georgia Museum of Art
- University of Georgia
- North Carolina Museum of Art
- Oberlin College
- Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
- Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
- Massachusetts National Guard Museum and Archives
- Harvard Art Museums
- Fogg Museum
- Howard University Gallery of Art
- Metropolitan Museum of Art
- Smithsonian American Art Museum
- Historical Society of Forest Park
- Danforth Art Museum
- Tinworks Art
- Museum of the Rockies
- Cantor Arts Center
- Stanford University
- Sotheby's
- Artnet Price Database
- New York Times
- Murray's Handbooks for Travelers
- Massachusetts Air National Guard Historical Association
- Meta V. W. Fuller Trust
- National Register of Historic Places
- American Anti-Slavery Society
- Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs)
- Hyperallergic
Locations
- Salem
- Massachusetts
- United States
- London
- England
- United Kingdom
- Georgia
- Athens
- Raleigh
- North Carolina
- Niagara Falls
- New York
- Ohio
- San Francisco
- California
- Boston
- Rome
- Italy
- Paris
- France
- Greenbush
- Washington, D.C.
- Concord
- Cambridge
- Philadelphia
- Pennsylvania
- Chicago
- Illinois
- Bozeman
- Montana
- Framingham
- Richmond
- Virginia
- Ontario
- Canada