Elizabeth Catlett Biography
Elizabeth Catlett was a sculptor whose artistic career spanned an impressive six decades, characterized by a rich body of works that are inspired by her experience as a woman of African American and Mexican descent. Throughout her life, across nearly a century from Jim Crow segregation through the Civil Rights Movement into Barack Obama’s first term as president, Catlett has been an ardent feminist and social activist that shines through in the dedication and commitment to her political beliefs found in her artistic practice.
Born in Washington D.C. in 115, Catlett was the granddaughter of formerly enslaved people. She received her artistic training from Howard University following Carnegie Mellon University’s rescinding of her acceptance on the basis of her race. Informed by her direct experiences with racial injustice, Catlett’s visual lexicon illustrated in the experiences of minorities in America; this element was further underscored when she relocated to Mexico in 1947 thanks to a grant from the Rosenwald Foundation. Working in sculpture and printmaking, Catlett has consistently offered works of immense presence and gravity that invite their viewers to intimately connect with the experiences of Black womanhood and working class life, underscoring her commitment to harnessing art for Black liberation. Her works can be found in museum collections such as the Studio Museum in Harlem, New York; The Museum of Modern Art, New York; the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; and the Brooklyn Museum, among others.
