born April 15, 1919, Washington, D.C., U.S.
Expatriate U.S. sculptor and printmaker.
Catlett was born into a middle-class family. After studying sculpture, she went to Mexico City in 1946 to work at the Taller de Gráfica Popular, an artists' collective, where she created prints depicting Mexican life. About 1962 she took Mexican citizenship. In her sculptures and prints, Catlett focused on mother-child pairings, famous subjects such as Harriet Tubman and Malcolm X, and anonymous workers
notably strong, solitary black women.