Elizabeth Catlett

Elizabeth Catlett Artist

Elizabeth Catlett was born on April 15, 1915 in Washington, D.C. She was born to a middle class family of educators. I believe this was part of her influence on becoming an educated African American woman. She was accepted in Carnegie Institute of Technology in Pittsburg, P.A., but would later be denied entrance due to her race. She would later attend Howard University but would earn a degree in Masters of Fine Arts from Iowa University. She would study sculptures at the University of Iowa, which one of her Professors Grant Wood encouraged her to present her images from the black culture, and her experiences to influence her works as a sculpture.

She worked as a muralist for a few months during the mid-1930 with the Federal Art Project of The Works of the Progress Administration (Chadwick p 316). This project was a result of Franklin Roosevelt new deal during the great depression. Some of the 20^th century artist worked with the WPA before going on to create abstract expressionist artworks in the post- World War 11( Chadwick p. 318). These program under the WPA created awareness of an appreciation of visual arts in America. This program also allowed children in various communities to attend art classes.

Catlett was known as one of the most influential artist of the 20^th century. The majority of her art work was on the rights of African American people, by allowing her viewers to see the hardships that they faced for years. In this piece of art work called Harriet (1975), Catlett manages to illustrate a strong African American Woman leading the slaves to freedom. It also creates an inspirational image for woman to capture their strength and resilience.

One of her strong pieces was “Homage to My Young Black Sisters (1968)This was piece was created by Catlett as a life sized figure was a testament to her concerns with African American feminism and nationalism. It shows with the sister fist raised in black power salutes the female form in the protest against racial inequalities.

After Catlett started teaching she eventually expanded her artistic view to New Mexico. While in New Mexico she started to see the same conditions of inequities that she saw in Unites States. She would start to create prints depicting the life in Mexico, which became a problem for the government. She would later be called a “left wing activist” (which means a radical, reforming or socialist). She would later be placed under investigation by the US House Un- American Activities Committee during the 1950’s. During this time she gave up her American Citizenship to declare legal in Mexico. The government considered her to be an “undesirable alien”.

Mother and Child (1959). This piece exemplifies her development as an artist and combines her influences on her heritage, her political and social beliefs. It also highlights the strength of a mother’s love and the great importance in her depiction of black woman. Elizabeth continues to be influential in the art world among woman because of her radical, social inequalities and oppression of black woman.

Work Cited

elizabethcatlett.net/catalog.html

Chadwick, Whitney. Woman, Art, and Society. 5^th ed. New York, NY: Thames and Hudson, 1990. Print.

www.nytimes.com/2012/04/04/arts/design/elizabeth-catlett...