Artist Betye Saar, 99, Dies in Los Angeles
A key figure in the Black arts movement, Saar was celebrated for her assemblage art and reimagining of cultural symbols.
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Artist Betye Saar, a significant figure in the Black arts movement, died on Sunday morning. She was 99 years old and passed away in her hometown of Los Angeles. Saar was widely recognised for her assemblage art, a practice involving the construction of sculptures from everyday objects. A notable aspect of her work involved reclaiming items from the Jim Crow era, transforming them into symbols of Black liberation.
Reimagining Cultural Symbols
Saar's 1972 artwork, 'The Liberation of Aunt Jemima', is one of her most famous pieces. This work reimagined the controversial brand image, which was based on stereotypes of enslaved Black women. In Saar's rendition, Aunt Jemima is depicted holding a rifle and a grenade. The brand image was retired by Quaker Oats in 2021. Beyond assemblage, Saar also worked in printmaking and film, addressing themes such as family, spirituality, and the African diaspora.
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Her artistic journey began in design, and she transitioned to fine art at the age of 35, continuing her creative output into her nineties. Saar frequently sourced discarded objects from flea markets and yard sales, examining how consumer culture portrayed Black Americans. She described her approach as a form of recycling, believing that each collected item carried an 'energy' from its prior use into its new context. This perspective was shared with a documentary crew in the 1970s, as reported by the Los Angeles Times.
The artist also incorporated natural materials gathered during her travels, which informed her explorations of the African diaspora and various spiritual practices. Saar expressed a keen interest in alternative religions and the visual imagery associated with them. She was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters in spring 2026.
Roberts Projects, the Los Angeles gallery representing Saar, stated that her 'symbolically rich body of work has evolved over time to demonstrate the environmental, cultural, political, racial, technological, economic, and historical context in which it exists'.
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