Elizabeth Catlett and José Sanchez, Taller de Gráfica Popular
For Colored Only
1945
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Physical Qualities
Tusche and crayon lithograph with scraping, Sheet: 323 x 247 mm. (12 11/16 x 9 3/4 in.)
Image: 235 x 169 mm. (9 1/4 x 6 5/8 in.)
Credit Line
Dr. and Mrs. William W. Magruder Fund
Object Number
1995.93
Born in Washington, D.C., Elizabeth Catlett received her undergraduate degree from Howard University and graduate degree from the University of Iowa. She continued her art studies in sculpture and printmaking in Chicago and then New York City, where she also taught at the George Washington Carver School in Harlem. In 1946, Catlett received a prestigious Julius Rosenwald Fellowship that enabled her to live and work in Mexico City in 1946–1947. There Catlett frequented the Taller de Gráfica Popular (People’s Graphic Art Workshop), where she found a community of like-minded artists committed to engaging with issues of social justice through printmaking. Although Catlett briefly traveled to the United States in 1947, she returned to Mexico City that same year to continue her work and establish permanent residency in Mexico before ultimately becoming a Mexican citizen.
In "Domestic Worker" and "For Colored Only", Catlett took up two causes that she would pursue in her 15-print "Negro Woman" series. "Domestic Worker" heroizes working-class African-Americans through the simple and dignified depiction of a standing woman who holds her cleaning implements with large, powerful hands. "For Colored Only" (at right) shows a despondent woman holding her head in her hands as she is confronted with signs that enforce racial segregation in the southern United States.
The Baltimore Museum of Art by purchase, 1995; Ellen Sragow Gallery, NY
Jay FIsher, The Baltimore Museum of Art, "A Decade of Print Acquisitions 1985-1995," 17 April - 23 June 1996.
James Smalls, The Baltimore Museum of Art, "Henry Ossawa Tanner and his Influence in America," June 7, 2006 - December 3, 2006.
Rena Hoisington, BMA, "Crossing Borders: Mexican Modernist Prints," November 19, 2017 - March 11, 2017.
Virginia Anderson, The Baltimore Museum of Art, "By Their Creative Force: American Women Modernists," October 6, 2019 — July 5, 2020
James Smalls, The Baltimore Museum of Art, "Henry Ossawa Tanner and his Influence in America," June 7, 2006 - December 3, 2006.
Rena Hoisington, BMA, "Crossing Borders: Mexican Modernist Prints," November 19, 2017 - March 11, 2017.
Virginia Anderson, The Baltimore Museum of Art, "By Their Creative Force: American Women Modernists," October 6, 2019 — July 5, 2020
Inscribed: lower left in graphite: "A/P For Colored Only"; lower right in graphite: "E Catlett 1946"; rest by later hands, lower left verso in pen and ink: "Archivo"; lower left verso in graphite: "16.5 x 23"; lower left verso stamped in black ink: "Taller de Grafico Popular"; lower right verso in graphite: "9"
Artist
Elizabeth Catlett
1914–2011
born Washington D.C. 1915; died Cuernavaca, Mexico 2012
Meet Elizabeth Catlett
