Roberts ProjectsLos Angeles 

Betye Saar, who turned racist memorabilia into a warrior, has died at 99

Roberts Projects said Betye Saar died in her sleep in the early hours of 26 July 2026 in Los Angeles, four days before her 100th birthday. Born Betye Irene Brown there on 30 July 1926, she became a defining assemblage artist of the Black Arts Movement; The Liberation of Aunt Jemima (1972) and Black Girl’s Window (1969) reframed racist memorabilia as protest. ArtNews notes I’ll Bend But I Will Not Break (1998) is on view at LACMA. Roberts lists centennial shows at the New-York Historical Society through 4 October 2026 and the Huntington through 30 November 2027. She is survived by daughters Lezley, Alison and Tracye Saar-Cavanaugh and six grandchildren.

From Roberts Projects. Read the original