<I>In Phillis Wheatley I proved intellectual equality in the midst of slavery</I>
date: label: Date
content: 1946; printed 1989
name: label: Created by
content: Elizabeth Catlett, Mexican and American, 1915 - 2012
label: Subject of
content: Phillis Wheatley Peters, American, ca. 1753 - 1784
notes: label: Caption
content: 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
label: Caption
content: 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.
label: Description
content: Black and white linocut featuring Phillis Wheatley. Wheatley is in the foreground of the image with three women behind her. Wheatley is depicted in her well-known portrait pose, seated at a desk and writing on paper with a quill. Wheatley is facing to the right and holding the quill in her left hand. Her other hand is resting against her cheek. The three women in the background are standing, barefoot, and chained together. The title is handwritten in graphite below the image and the work is signed. The reverse is blank.
topic: label: Topic
content: African American
label: Topic
content: Art
label: Topic
content: Freedom
label: Topic
content: Identity
label: Topic
content: Literature
label: Topic
content: Resistance
label: Topic
content: Slavery
label: Topic
content: Women
setName: label: See more items in
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
label: Portfolio/Series
content: The Black Woman (formerly the Negro Woman)
label: Classification
content: Visual Arts
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Winifred Hervey
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture
identifier: label: Object number
content: 2017.21.8
objectType: label: Type
content: linocuts
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: © 2020 Catlett Mora Family Trust/Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY
label: Restrictions & Rights
content: Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: ink and graphite on paper
label: Dimensions
content: H x W (image with title): 9 3/4 × 7 1/8 in. (24.8 × 18.1 cm)
label: Dimensions
content: H x W (image): 9 1/8 × 6 1/8 in. (23.2 × 15.6 cm)
label: Dimensions
content: H x W (sheet): 15 × 11 1/4 in. (38.1 × 28.6 cm)