Corita
1918–1986

Introduction

A Roman Catholic nun from 1936-1968, Corita gained fame as a pop artist in the 1960s. As the head of the art department of Immaculate Heart College in Los Angeles, she taught students to find art in everyday life, as well as everyday objects. As her classes grew, so did her fame - in 1967 her works were displayed in over 150 shows in the Unites States alone. This led her to leave public life in 1968, though she continued to work. Her most well-known work was painted on a large gas storage tank in suburban Boston during the Vietnam War - a series of large strokes of paint which instigated controversy as some claimed to see the image of Ho Chi Minh hidden within the strokes.

Country of birth

United States

Roles

Artist, designer, educator, graphic designer

ULAN identifier

500014156

Names

Corita, Corita Kent (Sister Mary Corita), Sister Mary Corita Kent, Sister Corita, Sister Mary Corita, Frances Elisabeth Kent, Mary Corita Kent, M. Corita, Mary Corita

View the full Getty record

Information from the Getty Research Institute's Union List of Artist Names ® (ULAN), made available under the ODC Attribution License. Accessed December 11, 2024.


On the Hour

A 30-second online art project:
Maya Man, A Realistic Day In My Life Living In New York City

Learn more about this project

Learn more at whitney.org/artport

On the Hour projects can contain motion and sound. To respect your accessibility settings autoplay is disabled.