Your art history post for today: by Elizabeth Catlett (1915–2012), Sharecropper, 1952, color linoprint. As a print it appears in many collections, both public and private. #arthistory #blackart #blackartists #womanartist #womenartists #BlackHistoryMonth
From Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College: “Sharecropper is arguably the best-known image by sculptor and printmaker Elizabeth Catlett (1915–2012), who was one of the most admired African American artists of the twentieth century. She devoted her career to creating works that addressed issues of social justice—especially the struggles of African American women—and aimed to reach a broad, multiracial audience…
The first work by Catlett to enter the museum's collection, Sharecropper possesses both graphic and emotional power. In it she elevates a field worker from the American South to a symbol of dignity in the midst of hardship. The print's large scale, tight cropping, and low vantage point intensify the figure's monumental presence and convey a sense of her internal fortitude. Catlett's chiseled treatment of the woman's taut face suggests her physical strength but also reminds us that Catlett trained as a sculptor; also sculptural are the precise, varied hatchings in the block that create the image's remarkable range of patterns, textures, and lighting effects. Particularly artful is her rendering of the woven straw hat, with its concentric, halo-like bands that encircle the figure's head, drawing further attention to her face. The sharecropper appears self-possessed, yet worn from her labors. The large safety pin that fastens her plain shirt is perhaps the most telling emblem of her modest circumstances.”
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