The papers of African American painter, printmaker, and sculptor Elizabeth Catlett measure 0.3 linear feet and date from 1957 to 1980. The collection consists of printed material, such as project-related press; exhibition announcements, catalogs, and posters; publications featuring articles about Catlett; clippings; and cards featuring reproductions of Catlett's work.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of African American painter, printmaker, and sculptor Elizabeth Catlett measure 0.3 linear feet and date from 1957 to 1980. The collection consists of printed material, such as project-related press; exhibition announcements, catalogs, and posters; publications featuring articles about Catlett; clippings; and cards featuring reproductions of Catlett's work. Some of the exhibition materials and clippings, as well as the publication gente are in Spanish.
Arrangement:
Due to the small size of this collection, the papers are arranged as one series.
Series 1: Elizabeth Catlett papers, 1957-1980 (Box 1, OV 2; 0.3 linear feet)
Biographical / Historical:
Elizabeth Catlett (1915-2012) was an African American painter, printmaker, and sculptor. She was born and raised in Washington, D.C. and attended Howard University after being denied admission to the Carnegie Institute of Technology (now Carnegie Mellon University) due to her race. At Howard she studied under Loïs Mailou Jones and Alain Locke. She later studied with Grant Wood and Henry Stinson while pursuing her masters of fine arts at the University of Iowa. When she graduated in 1940, she was one of the first three students, and the only African American woman, to earn that degree from the university.
In 1946 Catlett was awarded a Rosenwald Fellowship to travel to Mexico with her husband, artist Charles White. The couple divorced that same year. In 1947, Catlett joined the Taller de Gráfica Popular, an artist's print collective devoted to leftist social causes. There she met printmaker and muralist Francisco Mora, whom she married. Catlett taught at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) from 1958 until her retirement in 1975. She divided her time between New York and Mexico. Catlett continued to produce artwork until her death in 2012. Her work is held in many notable collections such as the Museum of Modern Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the National Museum in Prague, and the Museo de Arte Moderno in Mexico City.
Related Materials:
Elizabeth Catlett papers are also located at the Amistad Research Center, Tulane University.
Provenance:
The papers were donated to the Archives of American Art by Elizabeth Catlett in 1980. They were microfilmed as part of the Archives of American Art's Texas project in 1981.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
