Elizabeth Catlett | Sculptor, 96

Elizabeth Catlett, 96, a sculptor and printmaker renowned for her dignified portrayals of African American and Mexican women who was barred from her home country for political activism, died Monday in Cuernavaca, Mexico, where she had lived since 1976.

Born in Washington, D.C., Ms. Catlett moved to Mexico in 1946, became friends with great Mexican muralist Diego Rivera and others in his circle, and married Mexican artist Francisco Mora.

She became known for her commitment to winning greater rights for black people, women and workers in the United States and her adopted country. Ms. Catlett witnessed almost every important artistic and social movement of the 20th century and traveled in some of the same illustrious circles as the great American artist Jacob Lawrence and poet Langston Hughes.

She was arrested during a railroad workers' protest in Mexico City in 1958, and in 1962 the U.S. State Department banned her from returning to the United States for nearly a decade because of her political affiliations.

Working in wood, stone and other natural materials, she produced simple, flowing sculptures of women, children and laborers, and prints of Mexicans and black Americans that she used to promote social justice.

She attended Howard University where she graduated with a bachelor's degree in art and then got her master's at the University of Iowa, where she was student of Grant Wood, painter of iconic "American Gothic." Wood told his young student to make art about what she knew best.

Ms. Catlett took his advice to heart and began making images of strong and beautiful black women, making signature issues of racial identity, family dynamics, and social and political struggle. - AP