Elizabeth Catlett’s Political Prisoner

This sculpture by Elizabeth Catlett, renowned as both a sculptor and printmaker, represents the artist’s dedication to using her art to effect social and political change. Central themes in Catlett’s work include feminism, women and children, Mexican workers, and freedom from oppression for African Americans. Catlett moved to Mexico in 1946 and became a Mexican citizen in 1962, and she explored subjects from both her native and adopted countries. (Her American citizenship was restored in 2002.) Sometimes depicting famous figures like Phillis Wheatley and Malcolm X, Catlett also portrayed anonymous workers and solitary individuals, like the one shown here, which she also created at a smaller scale in bronze.