Artist Betye Saar, renowned for her work reflecting Black identity, culture, and spirituality, passed away on Sunday morning in Los Angeles at the age of 99. Her family confirmed her death on Monday. This week, she would have reached her centennial birthday.
A pivotal figure in the 1960s Black Art Movement, Saar was a pioneer of assemblage art, crafting sculptures from found objects. She reclaimed Jim Crow-era memorabilia, transforming them into potent symbols of Black liberation. Roberts Projects, her representing gallery in Los Angeles, described her work as evolving to embody the environmental, cultural, political, racial, technological, economic, and historical contexts it inhabits.
Saar’s artistic journey began in design and shifted to art at the age of 35. She remained active in her creative pursuits into her 90s. Growing up in Pasadena, Saar was influenced by the community of Black artists in nearby Altadena, often citing Simon Rodia’s Watts Towers as an inspirational catalyst.
Her diverse practice included painting, printmaking, sculpture, and the use of found objects such as dolls, washboards, and other antiques. Her art frequently featured recurring motifs like boats, clocks, cages, and altars, as well as symbols of the occult and cosmology. Lions represented her astrological sign, Leo, and appeared prominently in her work.
A signature work, “Black Girl’s Window,” created in 1969, was groundbreaking but only garnered widespread recognition decades later. The Museum of Modern Art in New York acquired it in 2019. Reflecting on her early career, Saar noted the scarcity of galleries for Black artists in Los Angeles during that era.
One of Saar’s most significant works, “The Liberation of Aunt Jemima,” was created in 1972. It included memorabilia that denigrated Black people, utilizing the “mammy” character. Saar reclaimed this image, portraying the figure with a rifle and a hand grenade, symbolizing revolution. This piece was created in response to the 1968 assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., sparking what Saar described as a transformation of mystic to warrior within herself.
The legacy of the Aunt Jemima character lasted over a century until Quaker Oats retired it in 2020, acknowledging its racial stereotype origins. Saar’s influence extended through teaching and mentoring artists such as painter Kerry James Marshall.
Despite a solo show at the Whitney Museum of American Art in 1975, large institutions sporadically exhibited her work. However, in 2019, solo shows were held concurrently by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and MoMA.
In spring 2026, Saar was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Her enduring energy for making art was noted by Angela Robinson Witherspoon, who produced a documentary on Saar’s life in 2023. Titled “Betye Saar: Ready to Be A Warrior,” it features interviews with John Legend, Tina Knowles, and other influential figures.
“She was raising her three daughters and wanted to be part of the Civil Rights Movement,” Robinson Witherspoon remarked. Saar’s dedication and impact are also recognized in exhibitions of her wearable art in Los Angeles and her collection of dolls in Manhattan at the New-York Historical Society.
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