Oct 03, 2013 - Sale 2323

Sale 2323 - Lot 44

Price Realized: $ 23,750
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 20,000 - $ 30,000
ELIZABETH CATLETT (1915 - 2012)
Sharecropper.

Color linoleum cut on textured wove paper, circa 1952. 452x425 mm; 17 5/8x16 1/2 inches, full margins. Artist's proof, in advance of the 1970 edition. Signed, titled, dated "1968" and inscribed "A/P" in pencil, lower margin. A superb impression of this important print, with deep relief printing and rich, dark color.

Sharecropper, one of Catlett's most iconic images, was originally printed in 1952. She then published it as Cosechadora de algodón in the journal Artes de México in 1957, various impressions in black, as well as the edition of 60 in color in 1970. This artist's proof, printed two years prior to the 1970 color edition, shows Catlett's experimentation with the added tan and green color blocks. In this proof, the figure's collar and neck is filled in with dense inking. Additionally, in the later edition, Catlett added white highlights throughout the face, with particular emphasis on the lower lip, further accentuating the contrast of the dark and light lines.