Corita Kent Prints and Multiples
American, 1918-1986
Sister Mary Corita Kent, once the nation's best known nun, won fame as a serigraph artist. Her bright, colorful silkscreen prints were the rage of the 1960s. She designed the first "Love" U.S. postage stamp.
Mary Corita Kent was born in Fort Dodge, Iowa in 1918, then moved with her family to Vancouver, British Columbia, in 1920. Two years later they moved to Los Angeles, where she grew up. Kent joined the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary there in 1938. She received her bachelor's degree from Immaculate Heart College in 1941, followed by a master's in art history 10 years later from the University of Southern California.
Popularly known as "Sister Mary Corita," the artist turned to the silkscreen process in 1950. Her large compositions combine quotations, often from the Bible or modern poetry, with religious or secular images. She achieved fame in the early 1960s with her brightly colored silkscreen posters. Some of her work includes excerpts from the writings of Carl Jung, e.e. cummings and Rainer Maria Rilke. She began adding words to her designs because, she said, "I have been nuts about words and their shape since I was very young."
Perhaps becoming a celebrity came too soon for the nun. It was something she never asked to be, but she carried the burdens of stardom with grace, kindness, and loving warmth. She never was arrogant, and accepted the status because she believed it would help the College of the Immaculate Heart — where she was teaching — and she thought it would be good for her community of Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Sister Corita became a symbol of the modern nun and was often the target of conservative Catholics, particularly when she turned to regular street dress in 1967.
After more than 30 years as a nun, Kent returned to private life in December 1968, moving to Boston to devote herself to her art, and opening a gallery. For the next 18 years, Kent created over 50 commissions, in addition to over 400 new editions of serigraphs. Special projects included the landmark 150-foot rainbow painting on the Boston Gas Company's natural gas tank, numerous murals, billboards, book covers and book illustrations, logos, greeting cards and more. She also created complete editions of serigraphs for fundraising use by numerous organizations dedicated to peace and social justice. She won dozens of art prizes and saw her work hung in many of the world's major art museums. Critics praised her prints as joyful, exuberant, bold and radiant.
Around 1977, the artist developed cancer, and although her doctor gave her only six months to live, she knew that she had major art pieces to accomplish before she died — nine years later. Kent passed away in 1986, bequeathing her remaining prints, as well as the copyrights to all her works, to support the good work of the Immaculate Heart Community.
Find original Corita Kent art on 1stDibs.
(Biography provided by Helicline Fine Art)
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Artist: Corita Kent
Sister Corita Kent, Yes to You silkscreen, Hand Signed Artists Proof with heart
By Corita Kent
Located in New York, NY
Corita Kent
Yes to You, 1979
Color silkscreen
Hand signed, numbered and uniquely inscribed with a heart doodle by the artist on the front.
Artists Proof (aside from the regular editi...
Category
1970s Pop Art Corita Kent Prints and Multiples
Materials
Screen
He Repeated the Letters of the Alphabet
By Corita Kent
Located in Missouri, MO
Sister Mary Corita Kent (American, 1918-1986)
He Repeated the Letters of the Alphabet...
Color Screenprint
22.5 x 38.75 inches
Signed Lower Right
Sister Mary Corita Kent, once the n...
Category
Mid-20th Century American Modern Corita Kent Prints and Multiples
Materials
Color, Screen
Corita Kent Original Serigraph Vietnam War Protest, "Wouldn't You Go to Jail.."
By Corita Kent
Located in Phoenix, AZ
Original serigraph by Sister Mary Corita Kent (1918-1986). Sheet size: 25"h x 30"w.
Titled “Would You Go to Jail if it Would End the War? Quote by activist Daniel Ellsberg.
Importan...
Category
Late 20th Century Corita Kent Prints and Multiples
Materials
Paper
Sister Corita (vintage hand signed poster) Images Gallery rarely found signed
By Corita Kent
Located in New York, NY
Sister Mary Corita Kent
Sister Corita hand signed poster, 1985
Offset Lithograph
Signed in pencil by the artist on the lower right
24 x 18 inches
Unframed
This offset lithograph post...
Category
1980s Pop Art Corita Kent Prints and Multiples
Materials
Pencil, Lithograph, Offset
Lovers by Corita Kent (Sister Mary Corita) (INV# NP3218)
By Corita Kent
Located in Morton Grove, IL
Corita Kent
Lovers
Serigraph Print
Image: 4.88 x 9"
Frame:11.75 x 15.75 x .75"
1983
Signed in pencil and numbered to lower edge ‘ed 200 Corita’
Category
1980s Contemporary Corita Kent Prints and Multiples
Materials
Screen
One Man One Woman by Sister Corita Kent (INV# NP3567)
By Corita Kent
Located in Morton Grove, IL
Sister Corita Kent
One Man One Woman (INV# NP3567)
screenprint in colors
print: 16.5 x 15"
frame: 20 x 18.5"
1976
signed by artist
*Not examined out of frame
Category
1970s Contemporary Corita Kent Prints and Multiples
Materials
Screen
Thoreau "If a Man Does Not Keep Peace"
By Corita Kent
Located in Missouri, MO
Thoreau "If a Man Does Not Keep Peace"
Sister Mary Corita Kent (American, 1918-1986)
Signed in Pencil Lower Right
22.5 x 22.5 inches
23.25 x 23.25 inches with frame
Sister Mary Cori...
Category
20th Century American Modern Corita Kent Prints and Multiples
Materials
Color, Lithograph
Leo Baeck "and a Spirit is Characterized"
By Corita Kent
Located in Missouri, MO
Leo Baeck and a Spirit is Characterized
Sister Mary Corita Kent (American, 1918-1986)
Signed Lower Right in Pencil
Edition of 250 Lower center
21.5 x 21.5 inches
24 x 24 inches frame...
Category
20th Century American Modern Corita Kent Prints and Multiples
Materials
Color, Lithograph
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Screen
Previously Available Items
Love The Moment, by Corita Kent
By Corita Kent
Located in Palm Springs, CA
Title: Love The Moment
Year: 1977
Medium: Serigraph
Size: 16" x 11.5
Transcribed Text: Love the moment and the energy of that moment will spread beyond all boundaries
A contemporary...
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1970s Contemporary Corita Kent Prints and Multiples
Materials
Screen
Flowers Grow Out of Dark Moments, by Corita Kent
By Corita Kent
Located in Palm Springs, CA
Title: Flowers Grow Out of the Dark Moments
Year: 1977
Medium: Serigraph
Size: 16" x 11.5
Transcribed Text: Flowers Grow Out of the Dark Moments
A contemporary of Andy Warhol and Ed...
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1970s Contemporary Corita Kent Prints and Multiples
Materials
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Crocuses for Summer, by Corita Kent
By Corita Kent
Located in Palm Springs, CA
Title: Crocuses for Summer
Year: 1980
Medium: Serigraph
Size: 20"h x 20"w
In excellent shape except for one small paper loss in upper left hand corner.
A contemporary of Andy Warho...
Category
1980s Contemporary Corita Kent Prints and Multiples
Materials
Screen
D is for Digging It, by Corita Kent
By Corita Kent
Located in Palm Springs, CA
Title: D Is for Digging It
Year: 1968
Medium: Serigraph
Size: 17 x 22.5 inches
This is from the 1968 series "International Signal Code Alphabet" by the American printmaker and activ...
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1960s Contemporary Corita Kent Prints and Multiples
Materials
Screen
P is for Palm, by Corita Kent
By Corita Kent
Located in Palm Springs, CA
Title: P Is For Palm
Year: 1968
Medium: Serigraph
Size: 17 x 22.5 inches
This is from the 1968 series "International Signal Code Alphabet" by the American printmaker and activist Si...
Category
1960s Contemporary Corita Kent Prints and Multiples
Materials
Screen
The Empty Moment Is, by Corita Kent
By Corita Kent
Located in Palm Springs, CA
Title: the Empty Moment Is
Year: 1977
Medium: Serigraph
Size: 16" x 11,5
Transcribed Text: the empty moment is the full moment is
A contemporary of Andy Warhol and Ed Ruscha, Corita...
Category
1970s Contemporary Corita Kent Prints and Multiples
Materials
Screen
Crocuses for Autumn, by Corita Kent
By Corita Kent
Located in Palm Springs, CA
Title: Crocuses for Autumn
Year: 1980
Medium: Serigraph
Size: 20"h x 20"w
Transcribed Text: We harvest the fruit of hope to begin again to hope.
A contemporary of Andy Warhol and Ed...
Category
1980s Contemporary Corita Kent Prints and Multiples
Materials
Screen
We Don't Turn Out Perfect
By Corita Kent
Located in Missouri, MO
We Don't Turn Out Perfect
Corita Kent (American, 1918-1986)
Signature Faded Lower Right in Pencil
14.5 x 29.75 inches
15.75 x 30.75 inches with frame
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20th Century American Modern Corita Kent Prints and Multiples
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Rainbow Covenant (Genesis 9) pencil signed limited edition of 200 Pop Art print
By Corita Kent
Located in New York, NY
Corita Kent
Rainbow Covenant, 1971
Color lithograph on wove paper
Signed in graphite pencil, and notated ed. 200 (edition of 200)
Limited Edition of 200
Vintage metal 1970s frame Included
One of the most coveted and elusive graphic works done by Sister Mary Corita Kent - done in the most desirable era.
Pencil signed on the front in a stated limited edition of 200
Held in vintage 1970s metal frame under glass.
Measurements:
Framed
23 inches by 23 inches by 1.25 inches
Artwork:
22.75 inches vertical by 22.75 inches
Commissioned by The Rainbow Shop in Beverly Hills for Amie Karen Cancer Fund for Children.
The quote on its face reads:
"I put my rainbow in the clouds and it shall be a symbol of the covenant between myself and the world. Whenever I bring clouds over the earth, the rainbow will appear in the clouds. And then I will remember my covenant." - Genesis 9
This Rainbow print was done in 1971 - the same year Sister Corita painted her rainbow swash on the 150-foot-high LNG storage tanks in Boston’s Dorchester neighborhood. It is not only a visible landmark, it is the largest copyrighted work of art in the world. One of Boston’s most controversial works of art hangs not in a museum, but on the walls of a massive gas storage tank. Originally painted by Sister Mary Corita Kent in 1971, the rainbow swashes are a welcome, lighthearted burst of color that have had some Bostonians up in arms for four decades. An outspoken pacifist during the Vietnam War, Kent painted simple pop art posters with with messages like, Stop the Bombing, Love is Here to Say, and I Should Like to Be Able to Love My Country and Still Love Justice.
Sister Corita Kent
Known for her willingness to stick it to the man, Kent ran into a bit of controversy after painting the gas tank in Boston’s Dorchester neighborhood, off Interstate 93 south of downtown. The largest copyrighted work of art in the world, the Rainbow Swash consists of orange, yellow, red, blue, green, and purple stripes strewn over a white background on the tank. On the left side of the blue strip, there’s a subtle profile of an eye and nose and seemingly long-pointed goatee beneath.
Considering Kent’s background and the politically tumultuous times, some people took on the belief that the profile was a portrait of Ho Chi Minh in protest against the Vietnam War. She denied the allegations and things were pretty much left there, but either for its enjoyable aesthetics or long-lasting message, the piece remained right there for Boston’s millions of daily commuters. Even in 1992 when they tore down the original tank, the Swash was immediately reproduced on a new, similar-looking tank.
Today, it’s considered a distinguished mark of the city. When parents take their kids home from a day at Fenway or the Museum of Science, they point to the tank and challenge their children to find the hidden face.
In 1985, The U.S. Postal Service sold more than 700 million of Corita Kent's Love’ postage stamps. The bright, optimistic design typified her work.
Corita Kent was born Frances Elizabeth Kent Nov. 20, 1918 in Fort Dodge, Iowa, to devout Catholic parents. Just after graduating from high school, she followed her older sister and joined the Roman Catholic order of Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in Los Angeles. As Sister Mary Corita, she taught art at Immaculate Heart College from 1938 to 1968, eventually heading the department.
At the college she created bold, colorful silkscreen works. She incorporated spiritual themes and literary and political writings with product slogans, street signs, and Beatles lyrics...
Category
1970s Pop Art Corita Kent Prints and Multiples
Materials
Lithograph, Pencil
H 23 in W 23 in D 1.25 in
We Can Create Life Without War by Corita Kent (Sister Mary Corita) (INV# NP3220)
By Corita Kent
Located in Morton Grove, IL
Corita Kent (Sister Mary Corita)
We Can Create Life Without War
Serigraph Print
Image: 14.75 x 18"
Frame: 23.13 x 26.13 x 1"
1984
Signed and inscribed to lower edge 'without war AP C...
Category
1980s Contemporary Corita Kent Prints and Multiples
Materials
Screen
H 23.13 in W 26.13 in D 1 in
I Love You Very by Corita Kent (Sister Mary Corita) (INV# NP3219)
By Corita Kent
Located in Morton Grove, IL
Corita Kent
I Love You Very
Serigraph Print
Image; 11.88 x 11.88"
Frame: 18.5 x 18.25 x 1"
1971
Signed and numbered to lower edge ‘ed 200 Corita’.
Category
1970s Contemporary Corita Kent Prints and Multiples
Materials
Screen
H 18.51 in W 18.25 in D 1 in
Corita Kent prints and multiples for sale on 1stDibs.
Find a wide variety of authentic Corita Kent prints and multiples available for sale on 1stDibs. You can also browse by medium to find art by Corita Kent in screen print, lithograph, offset print and more. Much of the original work by this artist or collective was created during the 20th century and is mostly associated with the Pop Art style. Not every interior allows for large Corita Kent prints and multiples, so small editions measuring 12 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of Oyvind Fahlstrom, Jonathan Winters, and Richard Merkin. Corita Kent prints and multiples prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $550 and tops out at $5,500, while the average work can sell for $3,000.
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Questions About Corita Kent Prints and Multiples
- 1stDibs ExpertApril 5, 2022Corita Kent is an American artist known for her work in pop art. A former nun. Corita Kent’s work focused on key themes such as Christianity and social justice Corita Kent primary medium is silk screen and is a self-taught artist. Shop a selection of Corita Kent artwork on 1stDibs.