"Catlett's sculptures communicate a deeply human image of African Americans while appealing to values and virtues that encourage a sense of common humanity. The fluid, sensual surfaces seem to welcome not just the embrace of light but also the caress of the viewer's hand."
- Michael Brenson, NY Art critic;
from the Elizabeth Catlett show catalogue, June Kelly Gallery

Elizabeth Catlett (1915 - present)

Born in Washington, D.C. Elizabeth Catlett first gained notoriety in Mexico where she has made her home for over 50 years. It was only after she first exhibited her work at the June Kelly Gallery in 1993 that she was elevated to similar eminence in her native country.

This prominent artist and humanitarian continues to make a great and lasting contribution to the field of sculpture and to the dignity and nobility of all human beings.
And so, on April 24th in New York City ISC honored Ms. Catlett at its annual Lifetime Achievement in Contemporary Sculpture Award Gala.

Education

• 1947-48, 1955 Studied wood carving with Jose L. Ruiz and ceramic sculpture with
  Francisco Zuniga, Escuela de Pintura y Escultura, Esmeralda, Mexico
• 1943 Studied with sculptor Ossip Zadkine, NY
• 1942-43 Studied lithography at Art Students League, New York
• 1941 Studied ceramics, Art Institute of Chicago, Illinois
• 1940 MFA, University of Iowa
• 1935 BS, cum laude, Howard University School of Art, Washington, DC

Selected Solo Exhibitions

• 2002
  • Elizabeth Catlett: Sculptures and Prints, The Cleveland Museum of Art, OH
  • Elizabeth Catlett: Recent Sculpture, June Kelly Gallery. NY
• 1999 Elizabeth Catlett: Living Legend, Bomani Gallery, San Francisco, CA
• 1998
  • Elizabeth Catlett Sculpture: A Fifty-Year Retrospective, organized by the Neuberger Museum of Art, Purchase, NY; monograph essays by Michael Brenson, Ph.D. and Lowery Stokes Sims, Ph.D.;
    traveling exhibition
  • Elizabeth Catlett: Sculpture, June Kelly Gallery, New York
  • Elizabeth Catlett: Prints & Drawings, Sragow Gallery, New York
• 1996
  • Prints from Mexico, curated by Jerald R. Green, Queens College Art Center, Benjamin S. Rosenthal Library, Flushing, NY
  • Struggle and Serenity: The Visionary Art of Elizabeth Catlett, curated by Mora Beauchamp-Byrd, The Caribbean Cultural Center/African Diaspora Institute, NY
  • In Rare Form, guest curator, June Lambla; essay by Melanie Herzog, Ph.D.; Afro-American Cultural Center, Charlotte, NC
• 1994 In the Hemisphere of Love: Elizabeth Catlett and Francisco Mora, Isobel Neal Gallery, Chicago, IL
• 1993
  • Sculpture, catalogue essay by Lowery Stokes Sims, June Kelly Gallery, NY
  • The Elizabeth Catlett Exhibition, James E. Lewis Museum of Art, Morgan State University, Baltimore, MD
  • Elizabeth Catlett: Works on Paper, 1944-1992, organized by Hampton University Museum, VA; traveling exhibition; essays by Dr. Samella S. Lewis and Dr. Richard J. Powell
• 1990-92 A Courtyard Apart: The Art of Elizabeth Catlett and Francisco Mora, catalogue essay by Dr. Floyd Coleman, introduction by Dr. Margaret Walker Alexander, Mississippi Museum of Art, Jackson, MS; traveling exhibition
• 1991
  • African American Women Artists: Elizabeth Catlett and Lois Mailou Jones, Montclair Art Museum, NJ
  • Montgomery Museum of Art, Montgomery, AL
  • Elizabeth Catlett: Sculpture and Prints, Malcolm Brown Gallery, Shaker Heights, OH
  • Pelloon Gallery, Washington, DC
  • Sculpture and Print exhibition, curated by Ernestine Brown of the Malcolm Brown Gallery, Shaker Heights, OH
  • Columbus Museum of Art, OH
• 1990 Junior Black Academy Gallery, Dallas, TX
• 1989 Elizabeth Catlett: Print Retrospective, Jamaica Arts Center, Queens, NY
• 1987
  • Museo Diego Rivera, Cervantino Festival, Guanajuato, Guan, Mexico
  • Elizabeth Catlett: Sculpture/ Francisco Mora: Watercolors, Arizona State University Museum, Tempe, AZ
• 1986 Mississippi Museum of Art, Jackson, MS
• 1985

  "Mother and Child", 1971 - cedar Ronda Stryker, William Johnston, Michael, Megan and Annie Johnston. © Catlett courtesy: Cleveland Museum of Art

  • Spelman College, Atlanta, GA
  • Norfolk State University, Norfolk, VA
• 1984
  • Masur Museum of Art, Monroe, LA
  • University of Mississippi, University, MS
  • Howard University, Washington, DC

Selected Public Collections

• Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, MD
• High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA
• Mississippi Museum of Art, Jackson, MS
• Museum of African American History, Detroit, MI
• National Museum of American Art, Washington, DC
• New Orleans Museum of Art, New Orleans, LA
• The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
• The Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, OH
• The DuSable Museum of African American History, Chicago, IL
• The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
• The Museum of Modern Art, New York
• The Studio Museum in Harlem, NY
• Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, CT
• Museo de Arte Moderno, Mexico City
• Narodniko Musea (National Museum), Prague, Czechoslovakia