African American Art History

Sex ,Race and Civil Rights by Reba Rossi

There are many women who have taken up the fight for equality.

Artis Lane and Elizabeth Catlett are just two. both struggled for

equality not only in race but gender as well in the twentieth

century. Using their skills as artist to push the subject of race and

sexism in to the public eye in a bold but peacefully way. There by

influence changes in society way of thinking. There is still much

to be done but using them as a positive role model for the future

we as a society will one day fine the equality that we so

desperately want if we just work together.

Elizabeth CatlettElizabeth Catlett, Was born in April 1915 in Washington D.C. Both her mother

and her father were the children of freed slaves, and her grandmother told her

stories about the capture of blacks in Africa and the hardships of plantation

life. She was the youngest of three children. Both parents worked in

education. Catlett did her undergraduate studies at Howard University

although it was not her first choice. She was admitted into the Carnegie

Institute of Technology but she was refused admission when the school found

out she was black. After graduating Catlett taught adult education classes at

the George Washington Carver School in Harlem. She also studied lithography

at the Art Students League of New York and received private instruction from

Russian sculptor Ossip Zadkine.

Elizabeth Catlett, whose abstracted sculptures of the human form reflected her deep concern with the African-American experience. the struggle for civil rights and women rights. Catlett said that the purpose of her art is to "present black people in their beauty and dignity for ourselves and others to understand and enjoy."

Mother and Child by Elizabeth Catlett wood sculpture ,c.1935

Mother and Child c. 1956 clay

‘Glory’ by Elizabeth Catlett Sculpture bronze c.1981

Lithograph by Elizabeth Catlett “colored only” c. 1946

“Civil Rights Congress” Lithograph series c.1949 by Elizabeth Catlett

Artis LaneArtis Lane was born in North Buxton in southern Ontario, Canada, on May 14, 1927.She can traces her roots all the way back to Southern slaves who escaped to Canada via the underground railroad. When she was two years old, Lane’s family moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan, where Lane attended school and began to distinguish herself as an artist. By the age of fifteen, she was painting portraits of her classmates, and after graduating from high school, she was awarded a scholarship to the Ontario College of Art in Toronto. After graduating,

“Rebirth”Bronze sculpture

by Artis Lane c.2009

Bronze sculpture by Artis Lane ‘Release”

c.1972

“Ms. Winfrey” oil on canvas 40”x60”

c. 2006 by Artis Lane

“Sojourner Truth” Bronze Sculpture

by Artis Lane c. 2009

"The Beginning", silkscreen, 1993

by Artis Lane

Citations• Wikipedia – unknown authors

• By Marlena Donohue July 2, 1990 - Artis Lane The Universality of Sculpture www.artnet.com/artists/artis-lane/biography

• www.britannica.com/biography/Elizabeth-Catlett

• elizabethcatlett.net