Laura Milad- Elizabeth Catlett (mini post)

Elizabeth Catlett was born on April 15, 1915 and passed away on April 2, 2012. Catlett is an African American graphic artist and sculptor. Most of her work is based on African American experiences during the 20th century with women being her main focus. Her work has both African American and Mexican influences. Her work depicts many social messages like race,gender and class issues. She is also the granddaughter of slaves. Some of her sculptures and prints are of famous African American figures like Harriet Tubman and Malcom X. She was also influenced by the social activism of Diego Rivera who was a Mexican muralist. She went to Mexico City in 1946 where she worked at Taller de Gráfica Popular, an artists’ collective. While she was there she was there she worked on depicting Mexican life. One of her most famous sculptures is Homage to My Young Black Sisters (1968). Her other famous works include Sharecropper (1968) and Survivor (1983) and the lithograph Negro es bello (1968; “Black Is Beautiful”). Catlett continued to work on art even in her 90s.

                                                                 Survivor (1983)

                                                   

Sharecropper (1968)

Homage to My Young Black Sisters (1968)