Betye Saar, a pioneering California artist renowned for challenging stereotypes of Black women through assemblage art, died Sunday at her home in Los Angeles. She was 99. Her passing was confirmed by Hannah Gottlieb-Graham, publicist for Roberts Projects, the gallery that represented her.

Saar gained recognition in the 1960s and ’70s as a leading figure in the California assemblage movement, creating sculptures from found objects that blended delicate domestic materials, powerful imagery of Black female identity, and spiritual symbolism. Her work often confronted and subverted racist caricatures, such as the “mammy” figure epitomized by Aunt Jemima. One of her most celebrated pieces, “The Liberation of Aunt Jemima” (1972), incorporated a plastic figurine of the character armed with a rifle, grenade, and broom. The assemblage drew on symbols of the Black Power movement, including kente cloth and a raised fist, reflecting the artist’s anger following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.

Art historian Kellie Jones described Saar’s Aunt Jemima as “incredibly strident, promoting the threat of violence,” while activist Angela Davis called it a catalyst for the Black women’s liberation movement. Saar explained her intent to transform the derogatory figure into a warrior empowered against oppression.

Born Betye Irene Brown on July 30, 1926, in Watts, California, Saar was the eldest of three children. Both of her parents were of mixed African, Native American, and European descent. After her father died when she was five, she was raised in Pasadena by her seamstress mother. She took early art classes and pursued formal training in ceramics, illustration, and design, earning a degree from UCLA in 1949. Before turning to printmaking and assemblage, Saar worked designing jewelry, home goods, and greeting cards.

Two major influences shaped her distinctive artistic approach. The Watts Towers, an expansive folk art structure built by Italian immigrant Simon Rodia from found materials, inspired her use of discarded objects to create beauty. A 1967 exhibition of Joseph Cornell’s surrealist shadow boxes further motivated Saar to craft intricate “magical little worlds” filled with personal and symbolic items.

Saar collected objects from thrift shops, flea markets, and international travels, incorporating gloves, brooches, photographs, and handkerchiefs into her works. Her pieces often featured imagery related to astrology, palmistry, and tarot, alongside mementos inherited from family members, reflecting her belief that old objects carry profound spiritual energy.

Throughout her career, Saar utilized window frames as containers for layered narratives, exemplified by “Black Girl’s Window” (1969), which combines celestial symbols with a silhouette of a young Black woman, evoking ancestral memory and spiritual longing.

Although Saar exhibited widely during her lifetime, widespread institutional recognition came later, primarily from her 80s onward. She received several lifetime achievement awards, including from the International Sculpture Center in 2018. Curators noted that her status as a Black woman artist working in Los Angeles contributed to a delayed acceptance within the mainstream art world.

Saar was married to ceramist Richard Saar from 1952 to 1970, and they had three daughters, two of whom are accomplished artists. She is survived by her daughters and six grandchildren.

Despite her advanced age, Saar remained dedicated to her art. “Sometimes in the morning when I wake up, it’s hard to get out of bed, hard to get back into my body and get it to move. But I do it,” she said in 2024. “Not everyone has a reason to get out of bed, something they love to do and that gives their life meaning. I am so lucky that I have that as part of my life.”