Betye Saar (1926): The Art of Resistance and Memory
Betye Saar (born Betye Irene Brown on July 30, 1926, in Los Angeles) is one of the most influential American artists of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Through her distinctive assemblages of found objects, she has spent more than six decades transforming everyday materials into powerful narratives about identity, history, and racial politics.
Her work is considered a major artistic response to racism in the United States and played a crucial role in the Black Arts Movement of the 1970s.
At 99 years old, Saar continues to work as an artist and remains an important inspiration for younger generations.
A Childhood of Objects and Stories
Saar grew up in Los Angeles. After her father died in 1931, she moved with her family to live with her grandmother in the Watts neighborhood. Later she lived with her great-aunt Hattie in Pasadena, a woman Saar often described as dignified and strong, who deeply influenced her understanding of Black womanhood.
This influence later appeared in works such as Record for Hattie (1972).
From a young age Saar collected small objects and curiosities, often repairing and transforming them. This early fascination with objects foreshadowed the artistic practice that would later define her career.
After studying art at Pasadena City College, she continued her education at UCLA, where she earned a degree in design in 1947. During her studies, a printmaking class changed her artistic direction. Saar later described printmaking as her “segue from design into fine art.”
Assemblage: Magic in Found Objects
Saar was strongly influenced by the assemblage work of Joseph Cornell and by the famous Watts Towers created by Simon Rodia in Los Angeles. Rodia used fragments of ceramics, shells, tools, and scrap materials to build towering sculptural structures.
For Saar, these materials had an almost magical quality.
Beginning in the late 1960s she started creating assemblages using boxes, windows, and containers filled with found objects, photographs, and symbolic materials from different cultures. These works often reflected her mixed heritage, which includes African American, Irish, and Native American ancestry.
Many of these assemblages also contain spiritual elements such as amulets, mirrors, ritual objects, and mystical symbols.
The Political Power of Art
During the 1960s and 1970s Saar became deeply engaged with the civil rights movement and with questions of racial representation in American culture.
She began collecting stereotypical images of African Americans from advertisements, toys, and household objects from the Jim Crow era. Figures such as Aunt Jemima, Uncle Tom, and Little Black Sambo appeared frequently in these materials.
By incorporating these images into her assemblages, Saar transformed them into powerful critiques of racism.
The Liberation of Aunt Jemima (1972)
One of Saar’s most famous works is The Liberation of Aunt Jemima (1972).
In this assemblage, Saar places a stereotypical “mammy” figurine within a box covered in old advertisements. The figure holds a broom, but also a rifle, turning the domestic servant stereotype into a symbol of resistance.
Rather than accepting the racist imagery, Saar reclaims it and transforms its meaning.
She explained the intention behind the work:
“I used the derogatory image to empower the Black woman by making her a revolutionary.”
— Betye Saar, Frieze Magazine, 2016
Today the piece is widely considered a landmark of Black feminist art.
Spirituality, Memory, and Mysticism
Alongside political critique, Saar’s work also explores spirituality and memory.
After the death of her great-aunt in 1974, Saar began creating a series of assemblages using personal objects such as photographs, letters, flowers, and jewelry. These works function like small memorial shrines and reflect on memory, ancestry, and the passage of time.
In later installations Saar combined spiritual symbols with modern technology. Computer chips might appear next to ritual objects, suggesting that technological knowledge and spiritual traditions can coexist.
A Lifelong Influence
During the 1980s Saar taught at institutions including UCLA and Otis Art Institute. Her work is now included in the collections of major museums such as:
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Museum of Modern Art (New York)
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Smithsonian American Art Museum
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Los Angeles County Museum of Art
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Whitney Museum of American Art
In 2025 the Betye Saar Legacy Group was established to protect and promote the artist’s archive and legacy.
Why Betye Saar Matters Today
Betye Saar’s work demonstrates how art can dismantle historical stereotypes and transform them into tools of reflection.
Her assemblages connect personal memory, spirituality, and political critique, revealing how everyday objects carry cultural meaning.
By confronting racist imagery directly rather than erasing it, Saar forces viewers to reconsider the history embedded in ordinary objects.
In a time when discussions about identity, representation, and historical memory remain urgent, her work continues to resonate with remarkable clarity.
Sources
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Saar, Betye. “Influences.” Frieze Magazine, 2016.
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Leopold, Shelley. Interview with Betye Saar, 2015.
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Smithsonian American Art Museum — The Liberation of Aunt Jemima.
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Museum of Modern Art collection pages.
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National Gallery of Art — Photography and the Black Arts Movement, 1955–1985.
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Stewart, James Christen. “Betye Saar: Extending the Frozen Monument.” Woman’s Art Journal.
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Schur, Richard. Parodies of Ownership.