Betye Saar

"Betye Saar: Drifting Toward Twilight" covers renowned American artist Betye Saar’s large-scale work “Drifting Toward Twilight”— commissioned by The Huntington Library, Art Museum, & Botanical Gardens — a site-specific installation that features a 17-foot-long vintage wooden canoe and found objects, including birdcages, antlers, and natural materials harvested by Saar from The Huntington’s grounds. This film renders a portrait of Betye's process at 96 while also reflecting on her life, career, and memories of Pasadena.

Wielding a paintbrush, Betye Saar steadfastly forges her own path with the mantra "Make Better Art." Her unwavering determination disrupted art conventions, paving the way for experimentation and conceptualism, ultimately sparking the Black women's movement. Now in her 90s, this icon from Watts is documented in this vivid portrait of her remarkable ascent in the art world and how she continues to carve an indelible mark in history.

At age 93, there's no stopping the legendary artist Betye Saar.

An introduction to the work of some of the foremost Black visual artists working today, inspired by the late David Driskell's landmark 1976 exhibition, "Two Centuries of Black American Art."

A 1977 documentary profiles the life and work of Saar, her fascination with the mystical and the unknown, merging with her social concerns as an African American woman.

"Betye Saar: Drifting Toward Twilight" covers renowned American artist Betye Saar’s large-scale work “Drifting Toward Twilight”— commissioned by The Huntington Library, Art Museum, & Botanical Gardens — a site-specific installation that features a 17-foot-long vintage wooden canoe and found objects, including birdcages, antlers, and natural materials harvested by Saar from The Huntington’s grounds. This film renders a portrait of Betye's process at 96 while also reflecting on her life, career, and memories of Pasadena.

Betye Saar’s film Colored Spade is an assemblage of derogatory images gradually replaced with depictions of African-American power and solidarity. The film explores Saar’s interest in deconstructing historical and political narratives through the use of symbolism within found imagery.

Betye Saar’s film Colored Spade is an assemblage of derogatory images gradually replaced with depictions of African-American power and solidarity. The film explores Saar’s interest in deconstructing historical and political narratives through the use of symbolism within found imagery.