<I>Roots</I>
date: label: Date
content: 1981
name: label: Created by
content: Elizabeth Catlett, Mexican and American, 1915 - 2012
notes: label: Caption
content: Elizabeth Catlett was a versatile sculptor and printmaker committed to creating work promoting women, family, community, and equality. Throughout her career, she employed art to express her views on social justice as well as to represent Afrocentric ideals of beauty. Here, Catlett depicts an African American woman’s profile against the silhouette of an African sculptural head, connecting Black culture with African ancestral heritage. The red, white, and blue in the background reference the colors of the American flag while evoking the hourglass pattern of traditional American quilts (top) and the Kuba raffia textiles of central Africa (bottom).
label: Description
content: This color screen print depicts the profile of a woman’s face in front of a larger profile of an African sculpture. The profiles are on the right side of the print looking left. The largest figure is done in a light golden brown with only a linear outline of the profile, with red details at the brow, eye, and the back of the head, including streaks of red from the eye and base of the skull. The smaller profile is set into the larger one and is a detailed illustration of a young woman’s face formed by a black silhouette with linear marks where the lighter brown of the larger profile shows through from underneath. The left side of the print has two geometric patterns in red, white, and blue. At top, small blue and white diamonds form quilt-like blocks. At bottom is a red and white diamond pattern. There is a wide white margin around the print. The print is titled, signed and dated along the bottom margin: [36/40 Roots] at left and [E Catlett 1981] at right.
topic: label: Topic
content: African American
label: Topic
content: Art
label: Topic
content: Identity
setName: label: See more items in
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
label: Classification
content: Visual Arts
label: Exhibition
content: Reckoning: Protest. Defiance. Resilience.
label: On View
content: NMAAHC (1400 Constitution Ave NW), National Mall Location, Culture/Fourth Floor, 4 052
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture
identifier: label: Object number
content: 2015.89.2
objectType: label: Type
content: screen prints
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: colored ink on wove paper
label: Dimensions
content: H x W: 14 × 19 3/4 in. (35.6 × 50.2 cm)