Betye Saar, a pioneering Los Angeles artist and central figure of the 1960s Black Art Movement, has died in her sleep in Los Angeles at the age of 99. Her death was confirmed Monday by relatives and Julie Roberts of Robert Projects, the gallery that represented her. Saar died just a few days short of her 100th birthday, which would have occurred this week.
Pioneering Assemblage and the Black Arts Movement
Saar is recognized for pioneering assemblage—sculptures created from found objects—and for transforming bigoted “bric-à-brac” into potent works that explored the history of race in the United States. Her practice incorporated sculpture, printmaking, painting, and the use of antiques such as washboards and dolls. According to Robert Projects, her work used the subversion of Black collectibles, heirlooms, and utilitarian objects to create symbolically rich pieces reflecting environmental, political, racial, and historical contexts.
Though she began her professional life as a designer of home accessories and greeting cards, Saar shifted to art at age 35 and continued producing work into her 90s. She was a leading figure in the West Coast arts landscape and mentored a generation of Black artists, including painter Kerry James Marshall. In the spring of 2026, she was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
“The Liberation of Aunt Jemima” and Political Impact
One of Saar’s most significant works, The Liberation of Aunt Jemima,
was created in 1972. The piece features a “mammy” figure—a 19th-century minstrel character—who is reclaimed by Saar as a warrior holding a hand grenade and a rifle. Angela Robinson Witherspoon, who directed a 2023 documentary on the artist, stated the work was created as an answer to the 1968 assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in Memphis, Tennessee.
The work was first exhibited at the Rainbow Sign, a Berkeley community center located near the Black Panthers’ headquarters. Activist Angela Davis later credited the piece with spurring the Black women’s movement. Saar expressed in a 2015 interview that she wanted to empower the figure to show that Black people wouldn’t be enslaved by that.
In June 2020, after Quaker Oats announced it would retire the Aunt Jemima brand due to its origins in racial stereotypes, Saar posted the image of her work to Instagram with the message: She’s liberated! Finally at long last! And it’s about time!
The piece is now held by the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive.
Early Influences and Institutional Recognition
Born Betye Irene Brown on July 30, 1926, in Los Angeles, Saar was the eldest of three children born to Beatrice Lillian Parson and Jefferson Maze Brown. Following the death of her father when she was about five, her family moved to Pasadena to live with her maternal aunt, Hattie Parson Keys. Saar later created a series of works honoring Keys using objects her aunt left behind.
Saar cited the Watts Towers, built by Simon Rodia, as an early inspiration. She specifically recalled being struck by Rodia’s freedom of materials, noting the “amusing” use of a corn cob in wet cement. She also credited her mother with encouraging her to make crafts and sew during her childhood.
Despite her influence, Saar noted that there were few galleries in Los Angeles for Black artists during her early career. While she had a solo exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American Art in 1975, large institutions exhibited her work only sporadically for decades. However, recent years saw a surge in recognition:
- 2019: The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York acquired her groundbreaking 1969 work, “Black Girl’s Window,” and MoMA and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art held concurrent solo shows of her work.
- 2023: The documentary Betye Saar: Ready to Be A Warrior was produced, featuring interviews with Tina Knowles and John Legend.
- 2026: An exhibition titled “Let’s Get It On: The Wearable Art of Betye Saar,” focusing on costume design, is currently on view at Robert Projects.
Related reading
