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Cleopatra in Chicago
Lewis's most famous work, The Death of Cleopatra, was created while she was in Rome and exhibited at the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia in 1876. Weighing more than 3,000 pounds and showing Cleopatra dead and bare-breasted, the statue was both praised and criticized for its realism. Lewis was unable to sell the work so she put it in storage in Chicago, where it remained until she could no longer afford the storage fees. Thus began an almost century-long journey that would see this work of art serve as a saloon owner's good luck charm, a horse's headstone, scrap yard decor, and a service project for the local Boy Scouts. Eventually the sculpture was properly identified, and in the mid 1990s it was obtained and repaired by the Smithsonian, where it still resides today.
Bibliography: Green, Penelope. (2018, July 25). Overlooked No More: Edmonia Lewis, Sculptor of Worldwide Acclaim. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/25/obituaries/overlooked-edmonia-lewis-sculptor.html
Hutchinson, Elizabeth. "Lewis, Edmonia." The Oxford Encyclopedia of Women in World History, Vol. 3, Oxford University Press, 2008, 99-100.
Luther, Elaine. Lost and Found: Edmonia Lewis and The Death Of Cleopatra. http://moorewomenartists.org/lost-found-edmonia-lewis-death-cleopatra/
Mitchell, Saundra. 50 Unbelievable Women and their Fascinating (and True!) Stories. New York: Puffin Books, 2016. Print.
Hutchinson, Elizabeth. "Lewis, Edmonia." The Oxford Encyclopedia of Women in World History, Vol. 3, Oxford University Press, 2008, 99-100.
Luther, Elaine. Lost and Found: Edmonia Lewis and The Death Of Cleopatra. http://moorewomenartists.org/lost-found-edmonia-lewis-death-cleopatra/
Mitchell, Saundra. 50 Unbelievable Women and their Fascinating (and True!) Stories. New York: Puffin Books, 2016. Print.
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