Estimated Price:

$75,000 - $100,000

Realised Price:

$0

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ELIZABETH CATLETT (1915 - )
Black Head.

Black marble, circa 1973-74. Approximately 280x305x150 mm; 11x12x6 inches. Incised "E. C." lower left edge, verso.

Provenance: the artist; Jules and Joanne P. Glazer, Palm Springs, CA.

An impressive mid-career work in luminous black marble, Black Head typifies Elizabeth Catlett's representation of women. The artist made a smaller bronze version entitled Cabeza Cantando in 1960, found in both the artist's collection and the Jacob Lawrence Collection. This voluminous Mexican head with drawn-back hair and broad cheekbones has the open mouth of a singer. This work is not to be confused with another Singing Head that is smaller, more angular and more influenced by African art. The subject of song or singing appears in several works by the artist. The most similar head in both material and style is Indian Head, 1973, another highly polished black marble sculpture wtih similar eyes and mouth that was exhibited in the artist's 1998 retrospective. Samella Lewis in her The Art of Elizabeth Catlett lists a "Mexican Head, black marble, 27 cm" from 1974.