"I Believe That As a Black Woman..."
"My identity is inseparable from my art." Explore 8 of Elizabeth Catlett's groundbreaking celebrations of Black resilience and identity from the Amistad Research Center's archive.
Elizabeth Catlett (1994) by Elizabeth Catlett and 1994Amistad Research Center
Elizabeth Catlett (1915-2012)
A groundbreaking Black artist, Catlett's work centered on the intersectionality of race, gender, class, and power. Known for her feminism and activism, Catlett was also a powerful orator-- a voice for the disenfranchised and disaffected. She influenced generations.
Catlett with Two Generations (1979) by Elizabeth CatlettAmistad Research Center
1. Catlett stands in front of "Two Generations" print
Catlett symbolizes the third generation. Her grandmother, a former slave, was forcefully abducted from her homeland and was denied full citizenship. “Alice” Elizabeth was, by birth, an heir to her foremother's fierce spirit of resistance, survivalism and non-capitulation.
Catlett_Sharecropper (1970) by Elizabeth CatlettAmistad Research Center
2. Sharecropper
As a child, Catlett saw sharecroppers as distressed figures laboring under harsh working conditions and oppressive economic disenfranchisement. However, she chose to represent Sharecropper with an air of monumentality, finely chiseled facial features, dignity and strong presence.
"We are conscious of our blackness and of racism every day of our lives. In the face of that, I try to show the dignity, the beauty, the struggle, the aspirations--the positive thoughts about black people." - 1996 interview with Chris Waddington (New Orleans Times Picayune)
Negro Art Exhibition Booklet Pg 1 (1942) by Louise E. JeffersonAmistad Research Center
3. 1942 American Negro Art Exhibition Booklet
"Alice" Catlett was known for almost her entire career as Elizabeth Catlett. Featured within this 1942 show with "masters" such Henry O. Tanner and Romare Bearden, Catlett was one of only a few women in the show.
Negro Art Exhibition Booklet Pg 2 (1942) by Louise E. JeffersonAmistad Research Center
1942 American Negro Art Exhibition Booklet (detail)
Exhibition participant, "Alice" Elizabeth Catlett's name is shown here. She was not standing on the shoulders of giants, but walking in lock-step with them.
Target Practice (1970) by Elizabeth Catlett and Target Practice is one of the most unique images in the Elizabeth Catlett's oeuvre. It is one of only a few male sculptural images that the artist created. Unlike the serene attachment between her mother and child sculptural figures. The cross-hairs on Target Practice is detached and there is a natural tension between the two opposing elements. Viewers are forced to "get out in front of" the obstructive prism or "piece" to engage with the fixated or trapped black man. The image is confrontational by design.Amistad Research Center
4. "Target Practice"
Target Practice, one of the most unique images in the Elizabeth Catlett's oeuvre, is one of only a few male sculptural images that the artist created. Unlike the serene attachment between her mother and child figures, Target's crosshairs are intentionally detached.
Intent as an element of design
The application of the crosshairs creates a natural tension between two opposing elements. Viewers are forced to "get out in front of" the obstructive prism to engage with the fixated or trapped black man. The image is confrontational by design.
Framing the issue
Catlett's 1950's iteration of Target is owned by the High Museum of Art.Target Practice (1970), reimagined in bronze, changed the image's narrative. It is symbolically and physically weighted down and framed by the crosshairs. Target Practice is the image of a "marked man."
Undated Inventory List by Elizabeth Catlett (1958/1972) by Elizabeth CatlettAmistad Research Center
5. Artist Inventory
This list, created by Elizabeth Catlett, is an inventory of her works. It includes Target Practice. Now one of the most requested images in Amistad's permanent art collection, its most recent appraisal far exceeds the original valuation.
Harriet (1953) by Elizabeth CatlettAmistad Research Center
6. Harriet (1975)
Catlett's Harriet (1975) reflects the Taller de Gráfica Popular's ideals. Harriet committed acts of defiance--leading enslaved people to freedom through the Underground Rail. The depiction of this act aligns with the TGP's mission to create empowering, socially conscious art.
"What have we, as artists, said to the world, or even to our people of our heroes in the United States? Have we told them of the inspiringly heroic life of Frederick Douglass? Do Negroes know the face of Harriet Tubman because of our efforts?" - Excerpt from Elizabeth Catlett's 1961 keynote address at the National Conference of Negro Artists in Washington, DC
Harriet (1953) by Elizabeth CatlettAmistad Research Center
Yes, because of you we know Harriet's revolutionary feats
Catlett’s Harriet looms large, reflecting the monumentalism of Mexican muralists and the Taller de Gráfica Popular (TGP). The TGP’s focus on empowerment for the disenfranchised aligned with Catlett's themes of African American identity, social struggle, and dignity for the poor.
Catlett-Primer Congreso Nacional De Artistas Plasticos (1970/1972) by Elizabeth CatlettAmistad Research Center
7. Primer Congreso Nacional De Artistas Plastico
Catlett reacted strongly to “Sister Angela's “excessive” bail, $12,000+ weekly defense costs and confinement to the state of California. She urged the First National Congress of Plastic Artists to write to Judge Richard Arnason to demand Angela's immediate acquittal.
Catlett Free Angela image multiple languages (1970/1972) by Elizabeth CatlettAmistad Research Center
8. Elizabeth Catlett's Free Angela Davis Flyer
Catlett was outraged by Davis's 1971 incarceration on charges of conspiracy, kidnapping, and murder. She rallied support from her colleagues at the Taller de Gráfica Popular to create this image and collaborated with international activists to advocate for Davis's release.
“It took me quite a long time to feel comfortable in my relationship with that image because I always insisted, well ‘it’s really not me.’ It’s an image that’s been produced….and that circulates in a certain way. But, I’m not all that is ascribed to that image.” Angela now accepts that though the image is “constructed and created,” it still has an “enormous amount' of power.” - Angela Davis, at the 2012 the Toronto Film Festival press conference for "Free Angela & All The Political Prisoners."
Elizabeth Catlett in her Studio (1970/1980) by Elizabeth CatlettAmistad Research Center
Elizabeth Catlett hones her craft
The artist was an exacting draftsperson and sculptor who finished her wood carving to near-perfection.
Catlett Carving (1999) by Elizabeth CatlettAmistad Research Center
The artist adding finishing touches to her work
Here is Elizabeth Catlett refining an unnamed carving in her home studio in Cuernavaca, Mexico.
Artist Notes on Sculptural Techniques (1961) by Elizabeth CatlettAmistad Research Center
Artist notes on sculptural techniques and inspiration
Here Catlett, who was a master technician, allows scholars a rare insight into her artistic process as she describes some of the foundational elements of her work.
Elizabeth Catlett Enjoys a Swim (1960/1970) by Elizabeth CatlettAmistad Research Center
Elizabeth Catlett enjoying a dip in the pool
Catlett's favorite past time was swimming. Catlett reportedly learned to swim at a "playground across from Lucretia Mott," her elementary school. It allowed her to figuratively and literally cool off and to drown out some of the harsh realities that confronted her.
Click here to see Catlett's ca. 1955 Target.
Alice “Elizabeth Catlett,” her professional name, is one of the most consequential artists of the 20th century. She expanded the ideological canons of art history by creating some of the world’s most iconographic images. Catlett, mulier summo ingenio, was underappreciated for the breadth of her intelligence. A gifted orator, master craftsperson, and activist, her identity as a Black person was “inseparable” from her art.
Known for her exploration at the intersection of race, gender, class, and power, Catlett was at the vanguard of cultural commentary. Her merger of aesthetics and activism gave voice to marginalized communities and left an indissoluble legacy. It transcended artificial constructs, affirmed black consciousness, emphasized black power and beauty, and commandeered control of the discourse on black cultural authenticity.
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