Singing Their Songs: Museum Object and Cultural History
Singing Their Songs: Date: 1992. Created by: Elizabeth Catlett, Mexican and American, 1915 - 2012. Printed by: J.K. Fine Editions Company/Mojo Portfolio, American, founded 1975.
The object in the museum catalogue
A color lithograph print titled “Singing Their Songs” by Elizabeth Catlett. The print is divided into four unequal quadrants. The upper left quadrant depicts a Black woman from the neck up with her mouth open in song. Against an orange background in the upper right quadrant is a kneeling Black woman wearing a brown dress with white flowers, her hands clasped in a prayer position. In the bottom left quadrant are two repeated images in black ink of a Black man's face against a blue background. In the bottom right quadrant is a Black man against a grey background wearing a checkered green and white shirt, his mouth open in song.
The artist signed the artwork in the front in lower right corner [E. Catlett 1992], wrote the edition in the lower left corner [A/P VII], and the title in the bottom center [Singing their songs..].
Materials, dates and provenance
- Date: 1992
- Created by: Elizabeth Catlett, Mexican and American, 1915 - 2012
- Printed by: J.K. Fine Editions Company/Mojo Portfolio, American, founded 1975
- Subject of: Margaret Walker, American, 1915 - 1998
- Type: lithographs
- Medium: ink on photographic paper
- Dimensions: H x W: 15 1/2 × 13 1/2 in. (39.4 × 34.3 cm)
- Topic: African American
- Topic: Art
- Topic: Music
- Topic: Poetry
- Topic: Prayer
- Topic: Religion
- Object number: 2023.39.7
- Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of the Estate of Carroll Parrott Blue
- Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture
Sources and reuse
Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The underlying object's rights statement is: © Estate of Elizabeth Catlett Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
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