Podcast Summary

All Of It with Alison Stewart

Episode: The Revolutionary Art of Elizabeth Catlett on Display at the Brooklyn Museum
Date: September 23, 2024

Main Theme

This episode delves into the revolutionary art and enduring legacy of Elizabeth Catlett, focusing on a major new exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum, "Elizabeth Catlett: A Black Revolutionary Artist and All That It Implies." Host Alison Stewart is joined by curators Delilah Scruggs (Smithsonian American Art Museum) and Catherine Morris (Brooklyn Museum) for a deep, engaging discussion of Catlett's life, political commitments, social activism, and transformative artworks, especially her century-spanning focus on Black women and working-class experience.

Discussion Breakdown & Key Insights

1. Elizabeth Catlett’s Early Life and Political Awakening

• Background: Born in 1915 in D.C., Catlett was the granddaughter of enslaved people and grew up in a middle-class Black community.
  • Education: Attended Dunbar High School, surrounded by Black intellectuals and artists; early artistic talents included soap sculpting and anti-lynching protest participation.
    [05:14, Delilah Scruggs]: “Early on she kind of nurtured her artistic interest… even as a high school student, she was already political, aware and active, participating in anti-lynching protests.”
• Higher Education: Initially admitted to Carnegie Mellon on merit but denied entry when her race was discovered; this redirect led to Howard University—a hub of Black cultural production during the Harlem Renaissance.
  • Influence of Mentors: Teachers included Alain Locke and Lois Mailou Jones, formative to her career. [06:30, Delilah Scruggs]: “The who's who of what we kind of term the Harlem Renaissance… in many cases, her direct teachers.”

2. Artistic Influences and Early Career

• Meeting Diego Rivera and the WPA:
  Catlett was influenced by Mexican muralism and the cultural output of the Mexican Revolution—drawn to public art's capacity to reach everyday people.
  [07:07, Catherine Morris]: “She took away so many lessons about that, about public… interactions with art for all people... the value of, as Delilah will probably describe later, also the idea of public art and its impact on people who don't necessarily feel comfortable coming into places like the Brooklyn Museum.”
• Graduate Studies:
  At Iowa, under Grant Wood, Catlett’s thesis focused on Black women and motherhood—recasting universal artistic themes through a Black lens. [08:25, Delilah Scruggs]: “The very choice to focus on black women and black motherhood was relatively unique… taking a universal subject… but then place that universal within the body of a black woman.”

3. New York, Harlem, and Artistic-Political Synthesis

• Life with Charles White:
  In New York, Catlett engaged deeply with the multifaceted Black art community, expanding her activism and artistic horizons. [09:29, Catherine Morris]: “There are many [art worlds], and Catlett found herself in many of them… learning about their lives and dreams and the ways that art and culture can be a part of that.”
• Struggle Between Artistic Styles:
  Torn between avant-garde abstraction and the realism needed for activist work, Catlett eventually resolves this by aligning her art with the needs and languages of working-class and marginalized audiences.

4. Mexico and the Taller de Gráfica Popular (TGP)

• Watershed Move:
  Catlett’s move to Mexico crystallized her mission—by joining the TGP, she found a collective committed to producing democratic, activist art. [10:53, Delilah Scruggs]: “She is fully aware of the avant-garde artistic practices… and on the other hand, she is incredibly dedicated to the activism that uplifts and centers… working class people. So... abstraction versus social realism… when she gets to Mexico… all of a sudden her conundrum was resolved and she understood, understood how to make art that was both aesthetically rigorous and politically forward.”
• Techniques and Themes:
  Through linocuts and mass-produced prints, Catlett’s work highlighted class struggle, Indigenous people, and Black women’s labor.

5. The Black Woman Series and Exhibition Structure

• Curatorial Approach:
  The show opens with the Black Woman linocut series before moving to a loose chronological structure, capturing both the breadth and thematic centrality of Catlett’s devotion to Black womanhood.
  [13:57, Delilah Scruggs]: “We chose a roughly chronological backbone… but also, thanks to Catherine, really… realized that Elizabeth Catlett's monumental Black Woman series was such a major pivot point and really crystallized the core themes that run throughout the exhibition.”
• I Am a Black Woman Gallery:
  This sequence narrates Black women’s lived experiences in the U.S., asking viewers to “embody the lived experience” via first-person poetic titles. [15:16, Catherine Morris]: “The 15 works are shown in the order that Catlett made them… she titled them, each with a lyrical and pointedly political title… it offers one of the first times… that through these titles and these representations… the viewer is asked to embody the lived experience of black women in the United States.”

6. Art as Social Commentary — Working Woman and Tired

• Working Woman (1947):
  Inspired partly by discussions with journalist Marvel Cook, Catlett’s depiction dignifies Black domestic labor and its hardships. [16:53, Delilah Scruggs]: “So that painting, you can see her with a broom, standing against the doorway… she looks almost monumental. And her implements of work, her broom, become kind of like a staff. She is just so ennobled… within the context of domestic labor.”
• Tired (Terracotta Sculpture):
  This modestly scaled sculptural piece renders a heroic, exhausted Black woman—valorizing ordinary laborers through traditional fine art forms. [19:23, Catherine Morris]: “It is a modestly scaled yet heroically represented woman seated... in a moment of tiredness, a moment of exhaustion... Catlett is presenting her in a heroic way through a traditional sculptural medium and giving value and space… to the lived experience of this black woman.”

7. Taller de Gráfica Popular (TGP): A Collective for the People

• Collective Ethos:
  Friday group critiques, activist commissions, and focus on portfolios centered the needs and voices of working people, Indigenous groups, and anti-fascism. [21:34, Delilah Scruggs]: “If they were going to serve the people, they had to work as a people… protest organizations, activists, student groups… would come to the TGP and request that the artists make work on behalf of their issues.”

8. Artistic Exile and Lasting Political Commitment

• Citizenship and Exile:
  Catlett was blacklisted and ultimately became a Mexican citizen, yet maintained an artistic connection to U.S. activism—her art remaining a vital platform for the struggles of Black Americans. [24:23, Catherine Morris]: “She made a clear and concerted effort to remain part of those conversations... her passionate commitment to the younger generation of activists that she saw coming up that she wanted to give voice to and build a platform for through her own work.”

9. Exhibition Sources — Preserving a Legacy

• Role of HBCUs and International Institutions:
  Works sourced primarily from historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) like Howard, Hampton, and Clark Atlanta, as well as Mexican institutions and other museums. [25:38, Delilah Scruggs]: “We would not be able to do this exhibition without the role, without HBCUs in their collections… places like Howard University, Hampton University… have preserved Catlett's legacy and had the foresight to understand the value of it back in the 40s, the 50s and onwards.”

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Catlett’s political and artistic synthesis:
  [10:53, Delilah Scruggs]: “She no longer felt that kind of tension anymore. And it was the TGP... that allows her to kind of fully realize that synthesis.”
• On the Black Woman series’ radical empathy:
  [15:16, Catherine Morris]: “It offers one of the first times… in the first person subject, the viewer is asked to embody the lived experience of black women in the United States.”
• On institutional support and preservation:
  [25:38, Delilah Scruggs]: “The mainstream white art world had not invested in and respected black art when Catlett was making her early work. And places like Howard… and Hampton… have preserved Catlett's legacy.”

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Catlett’s Early Life and Education: 05:14–06:58
• Early WPA, Diego Rivera, Political Influences: 06:58–08:25
• Artistic Career and Community in New York: 09:29–10:53
• Move to Mexico, TGP, and Artistic Synthesis: 10:53–13:06
• Exhibition Structure and the Black Woman Series: 13:57–15:16
• Analysis of Working Woman and Tired: 16:39–21:02
• Inside the TGP Collective: 21:34–23:36
• Exile, Activism from Abroad: 23:36–25:24
• Collection Sourcing and HBCU Importance: 25:26–27:12

Final Notes

The episode offers both historical depth and personal insight into Elizabeth Catlett’s art and activism. It contextualizes her as a transnational, revolutionary figure who continually sought to dignify and empower Black women and working people, channeling her lived experiences and political commitments into a powerful artistic legacy now celebrated at the Brooklyn Museum.

Exhibit Info:
Elizabeth Catlett: A Black Revolutionary Artist and All That It Implies
Brooklyn Museum | On view through January 19, 2025

Contributors:

• Alison Stewart (Host)
• Delilah Scruggs (Smithsonian American Art Museum)
• Catherine Morris (Brooklyn Museum)