Friday at Auction Finds is readers’ questions day. I try to guide readers to resources to help them determine the value of their items. I’m not able to appraise their treasures, but I can do some preliminary research to get them started. So, these are market values based on prices I find on the web, not appraisal for insurance purposes that I suggest for items that have been determined to be of great value.
Today’s question is about a book bearing the signature of African American artist Elizabeth Catlett.
Question:
Greetings. I just came across a signed copy of a thin paperback book titled “Elizabeth Catlett Works on Paper, 1944-1992.” Not knowing much about her, I Googled her name and the word “signature.” I came upon this page and compared the signature in my book to the one you posted here. (It) appears to be a match! I am wondering what do you suggest my next step is in selling it and getting a fair price. If you can help, or have interest, that would be great!
Answer:
The reader was referring to a blog post I wrote in 2012 about a November/December 1978 copy of Black Scholar magazine that I bought at auction and was signed by Elizabeth Catlett. The artist, who died in April 2012, was a beautiful sculptor whose works captured the essence of women, black women in particular. Her sculptures and original prints have sold for pretty nifty prices at Swann Auction Galleries’ sales of African American art in New York.
Her signature was on the cover of Black Scholar beneath a mother and child print by the artist that the magazine was selling. It was one of a set of five black and white prints being sold in a limited offering for $25, plus $1 for postage and handling. Catlett had created the original lithograph of the cover photo around 1970.
Catlett had a penchant for highlighting mothers embracing their children. “The implications of motherhood, especially Negro motherhood, are quite important to me, as I am a Negro as well as a woman,” she said in 1940.
The reader sent me a photo of the signature on the book, and it certainly looked like hers. But I wasn’t sure how much the signed book was worth, though. It was a paperback catalog for a traveling exhibition of her prints organized in 1993 by Hampton University Museum in Virginia. The catalog contained an essay by artist Samella Lewis, along with copies of 70 lithographs and linocuts.
Catlett taught at the university for about three years in the 1940s while her husband, artist Charles White, painted a mural, “The Contribution of the Negro to Democracy in America,” on a wall in the auditorium on the second floor of Clarke Hall at the school. The museum says it has the largest collection of Catlett’s prints in the country, and is about to mount an exhibit of 50 of them.
I could not find a signed copy of the book on retail sites or eBay, but most unsigned copies were selling for less than $100 (one sold for $28 on eBay). Checking later, I found a retail site listing several unsigned copies being offered at various bookstores for prices ranging from $45 to $214.
I suspect that Catlett signed a lot of those catalogs during the exhibition, and most folks are hanging on to them. The reader’s signed copy may produce a bit more dollars since few signed books seemed to be available.
I did come across one book of her artwork that is valuable. It is titled “The Art of Elizabeth Catlett” by Lewis, and only 1,000 copies apparently were published by Hancraft Studios in 1984. The asking price for this hardback runs up to $700 (from a low of $90 on one art gallery site). A reprint in 2000 was selling for $300.
As for the reader, if he had come across one of her beautiful sculptures, now that would have been the mother lode.
Reader’s reply:
Thanks so much for your time! I wasn’t expecting it to be worth tons. A big part of the thrill is knowing I have a legit signature. I may post it on eBay for $100-$200 and see what happens. And yes, finding a sculpture would have been real nice! One of them actually came up when I first Googled her and I see it was fetching quite a bit of money!
Perhaps if I post it on eBay, one of Ms. Catlett’s big fans will acquire it and treasure it!
My reply:
Auction houses like Swann have become expert in African American manuscripts and artwork. A book expert at either may be able to help.
