Elizabeth Catlett (American, 1915-2012) Glory, 1981 Bronze Miami University Art Museum purchase 2004.9
Glory is a bronze bust portraying Glory Van Scott, an
influential African-American woman. Van Scott was an activist
during the Civil Rights movement who fought to preserve
Black history. Being the granddaughter of a slave and rejected
from Carnegie Institute of Technology due to her race,
Elizabeth Catlett was heavily exposed to racial injustices. Art
was her way of protesting oppression based on race and
gender. This bust of Van Scott, a woman artist herself,
highlights the perseverance of African-American women
through a strong jaw line and bold, engaging eyes. Black
women artists used abstraction and realism as a way of
including the African-American audience and leaving their
work open to the viewer’s interpretation.