Corita by Bauer

She was born Frances Elizabeth Kent, became Sister Mary Corita Kent when she entered the order of the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart in Los Angeles, CA, and after leaving the order was known as Corita Kent. She is one of America’s most celebrated serigraph artists. Her magical use of color and text won her international acclaim from the 1950s until her death in 1986.

Starting in 1947 and continuing for over 20 years, Sister Corita was an art professor at Immaculate Heart College. She received an MA in Art History from the University of Southern California in 1951 and was recognized the following year for her serigraph print "The Lord is with Thee" by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

Corita could be described as the West Coast's answer to Andy Warhol. Both pop artists, though working on opposite coasts, they used their art to comment on society using commercial iconography. Warhol's work tended to focus more on the products and commercialism, while Corita's work used corporate and commercial logos, ad copy and popular song lyrics to comment on both the sacred and social justice.

Warhol was as practicing Catholic who kept his faith private, while Sister Corita practiced both her religion and her art simultaneously and publicly.

As Warhol's Factory churned out art, music and films in Manhattan, Sister Corita transformed the Immaculate Heart art department into a hub of artistic creativity. Among her influential friends were Charles Eames, Ben Shahn, Harvey Cox and the Berrigan brothers. Buckminster Fuller called his visit to her department “Among the most fundamentally inspiring experiences of my life.”

Corita's message of love and peace was probably best heard in her 1985 "Love" stamp which broke all previous sales records for the U.S. Postal Service. The message of her art is as relevant today as it was in the turbulent times it was created.

►Shop now

For more information, please contact:

Janek Boniecki

(888) 213-0800

corita@bauerpottery.com