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Elizabeth Catlett Interior Prints

American, 1915-2012

Promoting social change was Elizabeth Catlett’s prime motivation as an artist. The granddaughter of enslaved people, Catlett was born in Washington, D.C., in 1915 and spent her adult life driven to create sculptures, prints and paintings that would reach, celebrate and uplift those who were barely visible in art.

“I have always wanted my art to service Black people — to reflect us, to relate to us, to stimulate us, to make us aware of our potential,” Catlett said of her work in the 1978 book Art: African American. She studied art history, drawing and other disciplines at Howard University, and as an MFA student at the University of Iowa, her mentor, the painter Grant Wood, advised her to “take as her subject what she knew best.” As she later told an interviewer, “The thing that I knew the most about was Black women, because I am one, and I lived with them all my life, so that’s what I started working with.”

The centerpiece of Catlett’s spring 1940 thesis project, Negro Mother and Child — a figure of a Black mother embracing her child, carved from Indiana limestone — was awarded first place for sculpture at the American Negro Exposition in Chicago held that year.

Catlett taught art at Dillard University in New Orleans — where she battled discrimination daily — and met her first husband, artist Charles White, while living in Chicago. She resigned from Dillard in 1942 and moved to New York City. There Catlett befriended painter Jacob Lawrence and studied lithography and other media at the Art Students League. Inspired by her studies with Ossip Zadkine, she began to incorporate abstract forms into her wood and stone sculptures.

In 1946, a grant supported her travel to Mexico to study its murals and graphic art. As Catlett had experienced the barbaric and deeply destructive system of racial segregation that the Jim Crow laws enforced in the United States, Mexico felt like a welcome escape. She would make the country her home and create much of her work there, divorcing White and marrying painter and printmaker Francisco Mora of the Taller de Gráfica Popular (People's Graphic Workshop), or TGP, in 1947. She collaborated with TGP, a graphic arts workshop dedicated to social issues located in Mexico City, on a number of works, including one of her best-known linoleum cut prints, Sharecropper (1952). The heroic depiction of an anonymous farm worker was intended to draw attention to the plight of Black tenant farmers who were ruthlessly exploited by the era’s white landowners.

Another iconic work of Catlett’s is Black Unity (1968), a raised fist sculpted from cedar, smooth and gleaming, with one side taking the form of two faces that resemble carved African masks. In the same year, the raised fist, a powerful symbol of the Civil Rights struggle and emblem of the Black Power movement, had been immortalized by two Black American athletes, John Carlos and Tommie Smith, who raised their black-gloved fists during the playing of the “Star-Spangled Banner” at the Summer Olympics in Mexico City.

Catlett was a professor of sculpture at the National Autonomous University of Mexico’s School of Fine Arts in Mexico City from 1958 until 1976, when she retired to focus on making art, exhibiting extensively in the years that followed. In 2003, she completed the Ralph Ellison Memorial in New York’s Riverside Park. That same year she received a lifetime achievement award from the International Sculpture Center. Her work is in the collections of museums worldwide, including the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum of Modern Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Find a range of authentic Elizabeth Catlett art today on 1stDibs.

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Artist: Elizabeth Catlett
GLORY Signed Linocut, Opaque Taupe, Buff Paper, Profile Portrait Black Woman
By Elizabeth Catlett
Located in Union City, NJ
GLORY is a hand pulled, original limited edition relief print by the American and Mexican woman artist, printmaker and sculptor, Elizabeth Catlett. GLORY was created using linocut pr...
Category

Early 2000s Contemporary Elizabeth Catlett Interior Prints

Materials

Linocut

CRUSADERS FOR JUSTICE Signed Linocut, Thurgood Marshall Portrait, Civil Rights
By Elizabeth Catlett
Located in Union City, NJ
CRUSADERS FOR JUSTICE is a hand pulled original limited edition relief print created using linocut printmaking techniques on white archival heavyweight paper, 100% acid free. Pencil signed by Ms. Catlett on the lower margin, embossed with printers chop mark lower left, print documentation provided. CRUSADERS FOR JUSTICE was created as a tribute to Thurgood Marshall...
Category

Early 2000s Contemporary Elizabeth Catlett Interior Prints

Materials

Linocut

THE DOOR OF JUSTICE Hand Signed Lithograph, Lawyer and Clients, Civil Rights
By Elizabeth Catlett
Located in Union City, NJ
THE DOOR OF JUSTICE is an original, hand drawn, limited edition lithograph by the highly acclaimed African-American woman artist Elizabeth Catlett, master printmaker and sculptor bes...
Category

Early 2000s Contemporary Elizabeth Catlett Interior Prints

Materials

Lithograph

CRUSADERS FOR JUSTICE Signed Linocut, Thurgood Marshall Portrait, Civil Rights
By Elizabeth Catlett
Located in Union City, NJ
CRUSADERS FOR JUSTICE is a hand pulled original limited edition relief print created using linocut printmaking techniques on white archival heavyweight paper, 100% acid free. Hand s...
Category

Early 2000s Contemporary Elizabeth Catlett Interior Prints

Materials

Linocut

THE DOOR OF JUSTICE Signed Lithograph, Black Lawyers Civil Rights Social Justice
By Elizabeth Catlett
Located in Union City, NJ
THE DOOR OF JUSTICE is an original, hand drawn, limited edition lithograph by the highly acclaimed African-American woman artist Elizabeth Catlett, master printmaker and sculptor bes...
Category

Early 2000s Contemporary Elizabeth Catlett Interior Prints

Materials

Lithograph

CRUSADERS FOR JUSTICE Commemorative Art Poster, Thurgood Marshall, Civil Rights
By Elizabeth Catlett
Located in Union City, NJ
CRUSADERS FOR JUSTICE is a rare commemorative fine art poster designed by the renown woman artist, Elizabeth Catlett featuring a portrait of the iconic 20th century civil rights advo...
Category

Early 2000s Contemporary Elizabeth Catlett Interior Prints

Materials

Linocut

CRUSADERS FOR JUSTICE Signed Linocut Portrait, Thurgood Marshall, Civil Rights
By Elizabeth Catlett
Located in Union City, NJ
CRUSADERS FOR JUSTICE is a hand pulled original limited edition relief print created using linocut printmaking techniques on white archival heavyweight paper, 100% acid free. Penci...
Category

Early 2000s Contemporary Elizabeth Catlett Interior Prints

Materials

Linocut

THE DOOR OF JUSTICE Rare Poster Edition Lithograph, Black Lawyers, People
By Elizabeth Catlett
Located in Union City, NJ
THE DOOR OF JUSTICE is a rare poster edition lithograph printed in seven colors using traditional hand lithography techniques (not a photo reproduction or digital print) on heavyweig...
Category

Early 2000s Contemporary Elizabeth Catlett Interior Prints

Materials

Lithograph

GLORY Signed Linocut on Black Arches, Standing Profile Black Woman Portrait
By Elizabeth Catlett
Located in Union City, NJ
GLORY is a hand pulled, original limited edition relief / linocut print by the American and Mexican woman artist, printmaker and sculptor, Elizabeth Catlett. GLORY was created using ...
Category

Early 2000s Contemporary Elizabeth Catlett Interior Prints

Materials

Linocut

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Previously Available Items
CRUSADERS FOR JUSTICE Commemorative Art Poster, Thurgood Marshall, Civil Rights
By Elizabeth Catlett
Located in Union City, NJ
CRUSADERS FOR JUSTICE is a rare commemorative fine art poster designed by the renown woman artist, Elizabeth Catlett featuring a portrait of the iconic 20th century civil rights advo...
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Early 2000s Contemporary Elizabeth Catlett Interior Prints

Materials

Linocut

GLORY Signed Linocut, Standing Profile Portrait, Black Woman, White Line Drawing
By Elizabeth Catlett
Located in Union City, NJ
GLORY is a hand pulled, original limited edition relief print by the American and Mexican woman artist, printmaker and sculptor, Elizabeth Catlett. GLORY was created using linocut printmaking techniques on cream colored archival Pescia paper, made in Italy, 100% acid free. GLORY is a poetic female portrait expressed as a white line drawing depicting a upright postured black woman standing in profile view, her arm resting on a chair back, framed by plants and foliage in the background. Printed from Catlett's masterly carved linoleum block; a very strong impression printed by hand in a taupe brown ink on warm buff color printmaking paper. GLORY is unframed, in mint condition, pencil signed, titled, dated on the lower margin by Elizabeth Catlett, embossed with printers chop mark lower left, print documentation will be provided. Print size - 23.5" x 15" unframed, mint condition, pencil signed by Elizabeth Catlett Edition size - 60, plus proofs Year printed - 2008 Printer - JK Fine Art Editions Co. Never been framed, hand deckled edges, pencil signed, titled, dated, inscribed P.P.(Printers Proof) aside from edition of 60, actual print number may vary from photo, print documentation provided, from the master printers private collection Elizabeth Catlett (born April 15, 1915, Washington, D.C., U.S.—died April 2, 2012, Cuernavaca, Mexico), American-born Mexican sculptor and printmaker renowned for her intensely political art. Catlett, a granddaughter of enslaved people, was born into a middle-class Washington family; her father was a professor of mathematics at Tuskegee Institute. After being disallowed entrance into the Carnegie Institute of Technology because she was Black, Catlett enrolled at Howard University...
Category

Early 2000s Contemporary Elizabeth Catlett Interior Prints

Materials

Linocut

GLORY Signed Linocut, Black Woman Portrait, White Line Drawing, Brown Taupe
By Elizabeth Catlett
Located in Union City, NJ
GLORY is a hand pulled original limited edition relief print by the American and Mexican woman artist, printmaker and sculptor, Elizabeth Catlett. GLORY was created using linocut pri...
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Early 2000s Contemporary Elizabeth Catlett Interior Prints

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CRUSADERS OR JUSTICE, Signed Linocut Portrait, Thurgood Marshall, Civil Rights
By Elizabeth Catlett
Located in Union City, NJ
CRUSADERS FOR JUSTICE is a hand pulled original limited edition relief print created using linocut printmaking techniques on white archival heavyweight paper, 100% acid free. Pencil signed by Ms. Catlett on the lower margin, embossed with printers chop mark lower left, print documentation provided. CRUSADERS FOR JUSTICE was created as a tribute to Thurgood Marshall, civil rights...
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GLORY Hand Cut Linoleum Print, White Line Portrait, Female Profile, Taupe Brown
By Elizabeth Catlett
Located in Union City, NJ
GLORY is a hand pulled original limited edition relief print created using linocut printmaking techniques on cream colored archival Pescia paper, made in Italy, 100% acid free. Pencil signed, titled, dated by Ms. Catlett on the lower margin, embossed with printers chop mark lower left, print documentation provided. Poetic female portrait, white line drawing of an upright postured woman in profile view, with her arm resting on a chair back, framed by plants and foliage in the background. Printed from the masterly carved linoleum block by the African-American woman printmaker and sculptor, Elizabeth Catlett. Strong impression printed in rich taupe cocoa brown on warm, off white buff...
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Early 2000s Contemporary Elizabeth Catlett Interior Prints

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Linocut

CRUSADERS OR JUSTICE, Signed Linocut Portrait, Thurgood Marshall, Civil Rights
By Elizabeth Catlett
Located in Union City, NJ
CRUSADERS FOR JUSTICE is a hand pulled original limited edition relief print created using linocut printmaking techniques on white archival heavyweight paper, 100% acid free. Pencil signed by Ms. Catlett on the lower margin, embossed with printers chop mark lower left, print documentation provided. CRUSDAERS FOR JUSTICE was created as a tribute to Thurgood Marshall...
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Early 2000s Contemporary Elizabeth Catlett Interior Prints

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GLORY Hand Cut Linoleum Print, White Line Portrait, Female Profile, Taupe Brown
By Elizabeth Catlett
Located in Union City, NJ
GLORY is a hand pulled original limited edition relief print created using linocut printmaking techniques on cream colored archival Pescia paper, made in Italy, 100% acid free. Pencil signed, titled, dated by Ms. Catlett on the lower margin, embossed with printers chop mark lower left, print documentation provided. Poetic female portrait, white line drawing of an upright postured woman in profile view, with her arm resting on a chair back, framed by plants and foliage in the background. Printed from the masterly carved linoleum block by the African-American woman printmaker and sculptor, Elizabeth Catlett. Strong impression printed in rich taupe cocoa brown on warm, off white buff...
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Early 2000s Contemporary Elizabeth Catlett Interior Prints

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Elizabeth Catlett interior prints for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Elizabeth Catlett interior prints available for sale on 1stDibs. You can also browse by medium to find art by Elizabeth Catlett in linocut, lithograph and more. Much of the original work by this artist or collective was created during the 21st century and contemporary and is mostly associated with the contemporary style. Not every interior allows for large Elizabeth Catlett interior prints, so small editions measuring 15 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of Richard Serra, Hunt Slonem, and Jukka Vanttinen. Elizabeth Catlett interior prints prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $3,600 and tops out at $5,500, while the average work can sell for $5,050.
Questions About Elizabeth Catlett Interior Prints
  • 1stDibs ExpertFebruary 13, 2024
    How Elizabeth Catlett made her prints over the course of her career varies. She is most famous for her linoleum cut prints, which she learned to produce while studying at the Taller de Gráfica Popular in Mexico City, Mexico. It was this method that Catlett employed when creating 1952's Sharecropper, one of Catlett's most enduring images. She also created woodcut prints, screenprints and lithographic prints. On 1stDibs, explore a range of Elizabeth Catlett art.

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