Feb 16, 2012 - Sale 2268

Sale 2268 - Lot 35

Unsold
Estimate: $ 8,000 - $ 12,000
ELIZABETH CATLETT (1915 - )
Malcolm X Speaks for Us (Malcolm X Habla para Nosotros).

Color linoleum cut, 1969. 885x690 mm; 37 3/4x27 1/4 inches, full margins. First edition (of 2). Artist's proof, aside from the edition of 35. Signed, titled, dated and inscribed "A/P V" in pencil, lower margin. Printed and published by the artist, Mexico City. A very good impression with bright colors of this scarce print.

The upper part of the image incorporates multiple printings of the block I am the Negro Woman, from Catlett's The Negro Woman series, 1946-47. In 1969, this print won First Purchase Prize at the National Print Salon in Mexico City, and was purchased by the National Institute of Fine Arts, Mexico. After Sharecropper, Malcolm X Speaks for Us is the artist's most iconic image, epitomizing the turbulent times of the late 1960s.