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ELIZABETH CATLETT (1915-2012) Embrace 20 1/2 in. (52.1 cm.) high (Carved in 1998.) image 1
ELIZABETH CATLETT (1915-2012) Embrace 20 1/2 in. (52.1 cm.) high (Carved in 1998.) image 2
ELIZABETH CATLETT (1915-2012) Embrace 20 1/2 in. (52.1 cm.) high (Carved in 1998.) image 3
ELIZABETH CATLETT (1915-2012) Embrace 20 1/2 in. (52.1 cm.) high (Carved in 1998.) image 4
ELIZABETH CATLETT (1915-2012) Embrace 20 1/2 in. (52.1 cm.) high (Carved in 1998.) image 5
PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTION, CALIFORNIA
Lot 7

ELIZABETH CATLETT
(1915-2012)
Embrace 20 1/2 in. (52.1 cm.) high

Ending from 18 November 2025, 23:59 EST
New York

US$70,000 - US$100,000

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ELIZABETH CATLETT (1915-2012)

Embrace
inscribed 'EC' (on the base)
black marble
20 1/2 in. (52.1 cm.) high
Carved in 1998.

Footnotes

Provenance
Gallery Thirty-Nine Seventeen, Houston.
Dr. Janice Crowder, Seabrook, Texas.
Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, LLC, New York, acquired from the above, 2019.
Acquired by the present owner from the above, 2021.

Exhibited
New York, Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, LLC, Signs of Affection, online exhibition, n.d., illustrated.

Elizabeth Catlett's oeuvre aims to convey the emotions and lived experiences of 20th century women, with a particular emphasis on the collective histories of black women. A descendant of formerly enslaved peoples, Catlett's cultural heritage informed and inspired her throughout her professional career.

Embrace captures a tender exchange between two figures, transmuting palpable emotions of warmth and love and aims to convey Catlett's artistic goal of expressing emotions through abstract forms. In Embrace, the limbs of a male and female are enmeshed and intertwined which blur the lines between their separation and ultimately accentuate their unification. Catlett deviates from denoting facial features in the present work to fully blanketing the piece in an aura of abstraction. The only clue to distinguish between the two figure's lies in the subtle ruffles of the female figure's skirt cascading along the backside of her thighs.

Catlett was known to model a piece in varying media. Visually similar versions of Embrace were carved in black marble and mahogany. In the present version, the limbs of the two figures are forever linked in marble, further highlighting the permanence of their embrace and the unbreakable bond between the pair.

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