Louisa Lander (1826–1923) was a member of the expatriate community of American women sculptors who settled in Rome in the mid-nineteenth century, led by

Charlotte Cushman Charlotte Saunders Cushman (July 23, 1816 – February 18, 1876) was an American stage actress. Her voice was noted for its full contralto register, and she was able to play both male and female parts. She lived intermittently in Rome, in an expa ...

and

Harriet Hosmer Harriet Goodhue Hosmer (October 9, 1830 – February 21, 1908) was a neoclassical sculptor, considered the most distinguished female sculptor in America during the 19th century. She is known as the first female professional sculptor. Among other ...

. Lander was ostracized from this community in 1859 due to a rumored personal scandal, and many of the details of her later life remain unknown.

Early life

(Maria) Louisa Lander was born in 1826 in

Salem, Massachusetts Salem ( ) is a historic coastal city in Essex County, Massachusetts, located on the North Shore of Greater Boston. Continuous settlement by Europeans began in 1626 with English colonists. Salem would become one of the most significant seaports tr ...

, to a privileged New England family. She was the great-granddaughter of

Elias Hasket Derby Elias Hasket Derby (August 16, 1739 — September 8, 1799) was a Colonial American merchant based in Salem, Massachusetts who owned or held shares in numerous privateers. The crews of these ships took more than 150 prizes during the American ...

, and her grandfather on her mother's side was a relative of the painter

Benjamin West Benjamin West, (October 10, 1738 – March 11, 1820) was a British-American artist who painted famous historical scenes such as '' The Death of Nelson'', ''The Death of General Wolfe'', the '' Treaty of Paris'', and '' Benjamin Franklin Drawin ...

. Her father was a ship captain, and her brother, Col.

Frederick W. Lander Frederick William Lander (December 17, 1821 – March 2, 1862) was a transcontinental United States explorer, general in the Union Army during the American Civil War, and a prolific poet. Birth and early years Lander was born in Salem, Massachu ...

, explored the American west. Her family home in Danvers, Massachusetts was decorated with carvings by the Skillin brothers and

Samuel McIntire Samuel McIntire (January 16, 1757 – February 6, 1811) was an American architect and craftsman, best known for his work in the Chestnut Street District, a classic example of Federal style architecture. Life and career Born in Salem, Massachus ...

, and she studied these works to fuel her artistic ambitions. She began carving and modeling in wood, alabaster, and sealing wax, and worked professionally as a cameo carver in her early career. By 1855, she had her own studio in Salem, where she produced portraits and ideal busts.

Expatriate in Rome

In 1855 Lander went to Rome, where she joined the circle of American women expatriate artists that included

Anne Whitney Anne Whitney (September 2, 1821 – January 23, 1915) was an American sculptor and poet. She made full-length and bust sculptures of prominent political and historical figures, and her works are in major museums in the United States. She received ...

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, and

Emma Stebbins Emma Stebbins (1 September 1815 - 25 October 1882) was an American sculptor and the first woman to receive a public art commission from New York City. She was best known for her work ''Angel of the Waters (1873)'', also known as Bethesda Fountain ...

, a group satirized by novelist Henry James as the "white marmorean flock." She immediately sought out the American sculptor Thomas Crawford, whose work she had studied during visits to the

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. Impressed with her work, Crawford took her on as a student and assistant, and she studied with him for a little over a year before his untimely death in 1857. Virginia dare statue by Maria Louisa Lander

Virginia dare statue by Maria Louisa Lander

After Crawford's death, Lander established her own studio. Here she began a life-sized sculpture of ''Virginia Dare'', who was the first child born of English parents in the Americas and who disappeared with her parents in the mystery of the

Lost Colony of Roanoke Island The establishment of the Roanoke Colony ( ) was an attempt by Sir Walter Raleigh to found the first permanent English settlement in North America. The English, led by Sir Humphrey Gilbert, had briefly claimed St. John's, Newfoundland, in 15 ...

. While there is no evidence that the child survived, one persistent theory has suggested that the colonists of Roanoke were absorbed into the local Indian population, and Lander imaginatively depicted Dare as an adult Indian princess. Lander's ''Dare'' is in the tradition of the

captivity narrative Captivity narratives are usually stories of people captured by enemies whom they consider uncivilized, or whose beliefs and customs they oppose. The best-known captivity narratives in North America are those concerning Europeans and Americans ta ...

, a genre in American art and literature of the nineteenth century that depicted white Euro-American women as the captives of Native Americans or other non-white populations. Other American sculptures from this period in the same tradition included

Hiram Powers Hiram Powers (July 29, 1805 – June 27, 1873) was an American neoclassical sculptor. He was one of the first 19th-century American artists to gain an international reputation, largely based on his famous marble sculpture ''The Greek Slave''. ...

' '' Greek Slave'' (1843) and

Erastus Dow Palmer Erastus Dow Palmer (April 2, 1817March 9, 1904) was an American sculptor. Life Palmer was born in Pompey, New York. He was the second of nine children. He showed early artistic promise, and pursued his father's trade of carpentry. Palmer married ...

's ''White Captive'' (1859) but unlike the passive victims depicted by Powers and Palmer, Lander's ''Dare'' seems to embrace her alternate lifestyle. As Melissa Dabakis has suggested, the "partial nudity, competing identities, and implied sexual violence" of the sculpture may have contributed to its cool reception. Lander completed the plaster version of ''Virginia Dare'' in 1859 and the marble in 1860. Reception of ''Virginia Dare'' may also have been colored by a personal scandal that negatively impacted Lander's standing in the circle of American artists in Rome. Among her patrons was fellow Salemite

Nathaniel Hawthorne Nathaniel Hawthorne (July 4, 1804 – May 19, 1864) was an American novelist and short story writer. His works often focus on history, morality, and religion. He was born in 1804 in Salem, Massachusetts, from a family long associated with that t ...

, who sat for a portrait bust. Hawthorne was quite taken with her, and Lander became close to the entire Hawthorne family, often accompanying the family or Hawthorne alone on tourist outings around Rome. Critics have made the case that one or both of the two female artists in Hawthorne's work, ''The Marble Faun'' (1860), could be based on Louisa Lander, given their relationship. However, late in 1858, the relationship between Lander and the Hawthornes soured. In June of that year, Lander made a trip home to Boston to promote her statues of ''Evangeline'' and ''Virginia Dare''. When she returned to Rome in November, the Hawthornes refused to see her. During that time, rumors had circulated that Lander had, in her cousin John Rogers' words, "lived on uncommonly good terms with some man here," or that she had posed as a nude model. As a result of these rumors, Lander was ostracized from the American expatriate community in Rome.

Later life

Lander returned to Boston on April 1, 1860, and took a studio on Tremont Street. She was warmly received by the Boston art world, and she was able to recuperate her damaged career. In May 1861, after the outbreak of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

, she moved to Washington, DC, and volunteered as a nurse in local hospitals, where she also continued to pursue her sculptural career. Little is known of her life after the 1870s.

Selected works

*''Evangeline'' (1856-1858) *''Nathaniel Hawthorne'', Concord Free Library, Concord, Massachusetts *''Virginia Dare'' (1859), Elizabethan Gardens, Roanoke, North Carolina *''Undine'' (c. 1861) *''Evangeline'' (exhibited at the Düsseldorf Gallery, New York City) *''Elizabeth, the exile of Siberia'' *''Ceres Mourning for Proserpine''Ellet

Notes

References

* Ellet, Elizabeth. ''Women Artists in All Ages and Countries.'' 1859. * Gardner, Albert T. E. ''Yankee Stonecutters.'' 1800–1850. * Herbert, T. Walter. ''Dearest Beloved: The Hawthornes and the Making of the Middle-Class Family''. 1995. * Prieto, Laura R. ''At Home in the Studio: The Professionalization of Women Artists in America''. 2001. * Rubinstein, Charlotte Streifer. ''American Women Sculptors''. 1990. * Louisa Lander. (1861). Louisa Lander. ''Cosmopolitan Art Journal'', ''5''(1), 26–28. {{DEFAULTSORT:Lander, Louisa 1826 births 1923 deaths Artists from Salem, Massachusetts 19th-century American sculptors Sculptors from Massachusetts 19th-century American women artists 20th-century American sculptors 20th-century American women artists 20th-century American women sculptors 19th-century American women sculptors