Created by
Catlett, Elizabeth, Mexican and American, 1915 - 2012
Subject of
Truth, Sojourner, American, 1797 - 1883
Date
1946-1947; printed 1989
Medium
ink and graphite on paper
Dimensions
H x W (image with title): 9 5/8 × 5 7/8 in. (24.4 × 15 cm)
H x W (image): 8 7/8 × 5 7/8 in. (22.5 × 15 cm)
H x W (sheet): 14 1/8 × 11 1/4 in. (35.9 × 28.6 cm)
Caption
I wanted to show the history and strength of all kinds of Black women. Working women, country women, great women in the history of the United States. — Elizabeth Catlett
Elizabeth Catlett was a versatile sculptor and printmaker committed to making art that promoted women, family, community, and equality. In 1946, she received a Julius Rosenwald Foundation Grant to travel and study in Mexico City. There, she worked with the Taller de Gráphica Popular (People’s Graphic Arts Workshop), a printmaking collective primarily dedicated to the production of sociopolitical art. During her stay, she completed The Negro Woman. This narrative series of prints embodies a first-person perspective of Black women, imparting a sense of intimacy and resilience as the viewer navigates a variety of images relating to resilience, heroism, and the ongoing struggle for racial justice.
Description
This black and white linocut depicts Sojourner Truth. Shown from the waist up, she stands behind a lectern with an open book, perhaps a Bible, on top. She wears a dark striped dress with a light colored neckline or scarf around her neck. She has a light colored head wrap. Her right hand is raised with her index finger pointing upwards, and her left hand rests on the lectern. There is a handwritten title below the image in pencil. It is signed by the artist on the bottom right. The back is blank.
Place made
Mexico City, Mexico, Latin America, North and Central America
Portfolio/Series
The Black Woman (formerly the Negro Woman)
Classification
Visual Arts
Type
linocuts
Topic
Activism
Art
Feminism
Identity
Preaching
Resistance
Spirituality
Suffrage
Women
Credit Line
Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Winifred Hervey
Object number
2017.21.6
Restrictions & Rights
© 2020 Catlett Mora Family Trust/Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY
Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
GUID
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/fd5163d6ccc-324f-4e1e-ab08-dbb3e37ad428

Cataloging is an ongoing process and we may update this record as we conduct additional research and review. If you have more information about this object, please contact us at NMAAHCDigiTeam@si.edu

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