Child of the Fire is the first book-length examination of the career of the nineteenth-century artist Mary Edmonia Lewis; best known for her sculptures inspired by historical and biblical themes. Throughout this richly illustrated study; Kirsten Pai Buick investigates how Lewis and her work were perceived; and their meanings manipulated; by others and the sculptor herself. She argues against the racialist art discourse that has long cast Lewisrsquo;s sculptures as reflections of her identity as an African American and Native American woman who lived most of her life abroad. Instead; by seeking to reveal Lewisrsquo;s intentions through analyses of her career and artwork; Buick illuminates Lewisrsquo;s fraught but active participation in the creation of a distinct ldquo;Americanrdquo; national art; one dominated by themes of indigeneity; sentimentality; gender; and race. In so doing; she shows that the sculptor variously complicated and facilitated the dominant ideologies of the vanishing American (the notion that Native Americans were a dying race); sentimentality; and true womanhood.Buick considers the institutions and people that supported Lewisrsquo;s careermdash;including Oberlin College; abolitionists in Boston; and American expatriates in Italymdash;and she explores how their agendas affected the way they perceived and described the artist. Analyzing four of Lewisrsquo;s most popular sculptures; each created between 1866 and 1876; Buick discusses interpretations of Hiawatha in terms of the cultural impact of Henry Wadsworth Longfellowrsquo;s epic poem The Song of Hiawatha; Forever Free and Hagar in the Wilderness in light of art historiansrsquo; assumptions that artworks created by African American artists necessarily reflect African American themes; and The Death of Cleopatra in relation to broader problems of reading art as a reflection of identity.
#720902 in eBooks 2010-11-09 2010-11-09File Name: B003UYUS7S
Review
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful. Amazing and heartfelt Autobiography Like No OtherBy EcstaticMomentzDue to the fact that Hepatitis C was only recently analyzed in great depth by the medical profession like never before. this book was on the cusp of the discoveries and life saving amazing techniques. It really is the story of the beautiful singer. daughter of famed Nat King Cole. Natalie Cole is beautiful. spiritual. sincere. kind. friendly. warm and devoted.All of this shines through in this book making it a very valuable resource for anyone who has been affected by this personally or in their own family or with close friends.GOD BLESS Her for her strength. honesty. and willingness to share.May she save many lives in this process and this is just the vehicle to do that.Thank You Natalie from the depth of my heart2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. Just what I needed!!!By berni2coolWOW! what an incredible and awesome story. I already knew that it would be a book I would like. Not only did it arrived quicker than expected. yet it came in great condition. for a used book. Upon arrival. I got right into it. Really couldnt put it down. Admittedly. if the first chapter of any book doesnt hold my attention. I cant proceed on. But. this was just the opposite. I read this book within two hrs. Considering interruptions. etc.. an easy read. In conclusion. I highly recommend this book. to add to your reading list. You will not be disappointed. Yet. I was. Only!!! when it ended. Enjoy.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. A mature sequel to the earlier memoir and a testimony to the legacy of the Nat King Cole familyBy Daphne SimpkinsIn this follow-up to her first memoir written about ten years earlier this update LOVE BROUGHT ME BACK is written in more mature voice with a kind of wisdom that you want in a friend and hope to develop in yourself. I put it next to my other books on Nat King Cole. a fellow Alabamian and one of the major influential figures in jazz and popular music. His daughter lives up to his legacy. and her story is an interesting one.
