ELIZABETH CATLETT (1915 - 2012)
For My People.
Set of six color lithographs on Arches paper, 1992. Each 400x349 mm; 15¾x13¾ inches, full margins. Artist's proofs, aside from the edition of 99. Each signed, titled, dated and inscribed "A/P" in pencil, lower margin. Printed by J. K. Fine Art Editions, New York. Published by the Limited Editions Club, New York.This set of 6 lithographs was commissioned by the Limited Editions Club to illustrate Margaret Walker’s 1937 poem For My People. Walker (1915-1998) and Catlett became friends and roommates at the University of Iowa in the 1940s while both were pursuing MFA degrees. Walker published her first book of poems also titled For My People in 1942. It won the Yale Series of Younger Poets Award; Walker was the first Black woman to receive this prize.A bound volume of For My People was also published in an edition of 400. For My People is in the collection of numerous institutions including the Museum of Modern Art, New York and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Titles include: Singing their Songs * Playmates * To Marry * Walking Blindly * All the People * A Second Generation.