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  Elizabeth Catlett, Head, 1947

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  Dana Miller: Esta obra de la artista Elizabeth Catlett es de 1947.

  Narrador: Dana Miller, excuradora de la colección permanente en el Whitney.

  Dana Miller: Ella hizo esta obra en México, poco después de mudarse allí para trabajar con una beca. Esta obra se hizo con una técnica de rollos de terracota, algo que aprendió en México al poco tiempo de llegar, y que era una forma de arte indígena. Y para Catlett, eso era algo importante. Ella buscaba ver estos métodos indígenas y autóctonos de hacer arte como un medio de inspiración. Y para nosotros, esta escultura es algo tan sencillo en cuanto a contenido, pero que transmite sentimientos tan profundos. Y cuando la luz les da de una manera particular, los planos del rostro son tan increíblemente bellos.

  Narrador: Catlett estudió artes en la Universidad Howard, y luego en la Universidad de Iowa. Allí trabajó con el pintor Grant Wood. 

  Dana Miller: Y fue Wood quien tuvo una enorme influencia en ella. Él la incentivó a pintar, esculpir y representar lo que ella conocía. Y para ella, la experiencia de ser una mujer afroamericana consistía en eso. Gran parte de su creación se enfoca en un arquetipo de mujer afroamericana bellísimo y dignificado.

  Elizabeth Catlett, Head, 1947

  In The Whitney's Collection: Selections from 1900 to 1965 (Spanish)

• 0:00

  Elizabeth Catlett, Head, 1947

  0:00

  Play Transcript

  Dana Miller: This work by the artist Elizabeth Catlett is from 1947.

  Narrator: Dana Miller, former curator of the permanent collection at the Whitney.

  Dana Miller: She made this work in Mexico, shortly after she moved there to work on a fellowship. This work was made using a terracotta coil technique that was something she learned in Mexico shortly after she arrived, and was an indigenous form of art-making. And for Catlett, I think that was important. She often wanted to look towards this sort of indigenous and local way of making art as a means of inspiration. And for us, this sculpture is just so simple in it’s sort of content, but yet it conveys such depth of feeling. And the planes of the face are just so incredibly beautiful when the light hits them in a certain way.

  Narrator: Catlett studied art at Howard University, and then at the University of Iowa. There, she worked with the painter Grant Wood.

  Dana Miller: And it was Wood who had a tremendous impact on her. And he encouraged her to paint and sculpt and depict what she knew. And for her that was the experience of being an African American woman. And so much of her output focuses on a very beautiful, sort of dignified archetype of an African American woman. 

  Elizabeth Catlett, Head, 1947

  In The Whitney's Collection: Selections from 1900 to 1965 and America Is Hard to See