Indian Combat

Of Native American (Ojibwe) and African American ancestry, Lewis studied at Oberlin College and apprenticed with a sculptor in Boston before relocating to Rome in 1866. Her most popular works were Native American subjects, readily purchased by patrons on both sides of the Atlantic. Indian Combat, a spiraling composition with three intertwined figures, ranks as her most dynamic and complex creation. Although Lewis's Native American subjects typically exist in multiple versions, this example appears to be unique.

Credit: American Painting and Sculpture Sundry Purchase Fund and Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund