  About the Artwork
  
  
  Throughout her career, Elizabeth Catlett addressed two compelling issues: social justice and the lives of women. Her admiration for the politically significant work of the Mexican Muralists led her to Mexico City in 1946; a year later she established permanent residency and lived in Cuernavaca until her death. Over the years, her work assimilated global influences ranging from the European-based traditions of her education to her own discoveries of African and Olmec sculpture. This small, terra-cotta head eloquently represents Catlett’s syncretic approach. While the rounded head shape and high cheekbones resemble those of the colossal stone heads made by the Olmec people of southern Mexico (between 1200 and 400 BCE), the generous features and hair texture evoke a beauty of African descent. This blending of distinctive characteristics speaks of the enriching potential of diaspora and an inherent human dignity that transcends ethnic and national differences.

From Bulletin of the Detroit Institute of Arts 89 (2015)
  
  
  Title
  Terra-Cotta Head
  
  
  Artwork Date
  ca. 1960
  
  Artist
  Elizabeth Catlett
  
  
  
  Life Dates
  1915 - 2012
  
  
  
  
  Nationality
  
  
  
  Please note:
  Definitions for nationality may vary significantly, depending on chronology and world events.
  Some definitions include:
  Belonging to a people having a common origin based on a geography and/or descent and/or tradition and/or culture and/or religion and/or language, or sharing membership in a legally defined nation.
  
  
  
  American
  
  
  
  Culture
  
  
  
  Please note:
  Cultures may be defined by the language, customs, religious beliefs, social norms, and material traits of a group.
  
  
  
  
  ----------
  
  
  Medium
  Terracotta
  
  
  Dimensions
  Overall: 8 1/4 × 9 1/4 × 11 inches (21 × 23.5 × 27.9 cm)
  
  
  Classification
  Sculpture
  
  
  Department
  African American Art
  
  
  Credit
  Museum Purchase, Friends of African and African American Art
  
  
  
  Accession Number
  
  
  
  This unique number is assigned to an individual artwork as part of the cataloguing process at the time of entry into the permanent collection.
  Most frequently, accession numbers begin with the year in which the artwork entered the museum’s holdings.
  For example, 2008.3 refers to the year of acquisition and notes that it was the 3rd of that year. The DIA has a few additional systems—no longer assigned—that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups.
  
  
  
  2006.63
  
  
  Copyright
  © Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
