El Canto
Artist
Elizabeth Catlett
American, 1915–2012
Date1970
MediumMexican marble
Dimensions52.1 x 33 x 39.4 cm (20 1/2 x 13 x 15 1/2 in.)
ClassificationsSculpture
Credit LineStoddard Acquisition Fund
Object number2001.2
Label TextI have always wanted my art to service my people: to reflect us, to relate to us, to stimulate us, to make us aware of our potential.
– Elizabeth Catlett
A lifelong political activist as well as a sculptor and printmaker,
Catlett believed in the ability of art to foster change. Singing was
a common theme in her artwork as a representation of agency
and a sign of the importance of music in African American
culture. Inspired by African masks and ancient American
stonework, El Canto (Song) depicts the head of a person with
mouth open in song. The singer’s features are distorted and
abstracted for expressive effect. Catlett also exploited the
marble’s natural veins to su est sound waves.
Born in Washington, D.C., under segregation, Catlett settled
permanently in Mexico in 1946 but remained connected to Black
art circles and the Civil Rights Movement in the U.S.ProvenanceRicardo Perez Escamilla; purchased from June Kelly Gallery, New York
On View
On viewCurrent Location
- Exhibition Location Gallery 4001
Hiram Powers
designed 1846; sculpted 1846–1847
