Betye Saar

The Beastie Parade

1964

Etching and aquatint with hand additions

Not on view

“There has been an apparent thread in my art that weaves from my early prints of the 1960s through later collages and assemblages. . . . That thread is a curiosity about the mystical.” Works like The Beastie Parade reveal this longstanding interest of Saar’s, which was supported in part by her broader cultural explorations of the occult in the 1960s. Evoking medieval imagery of unicorns and maidens in jewel-like colors, Saar’s characters appear under the sun and the moon, underscoring the interconnection of the natural and supernatural.

Gallery label from

Betye Saar: The Legends of Black Girl’s Window, October 21, 2019–January 4, 2020

Medium Etching and aquatint with hand additions
Dimensions plate: 5 1/16 × 14 7/8" (12.9 × 37.8 cm); sheet (irreg.): 6 7/8 × 16 7/16" (17.4 × 41.7 cm)
Publisher Betye Saar, Los Angeles
Printer Betye Saar, Los Angeles
Edition planned edition of 15, 7 known variants
Credit The Candace King Weir Endowment for Women Artists
Object number 1173.2018
Department Drawings and Prints

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Betye Saar

Betye Saar

American, born 1926 49 works online

In Betye Saar’s work, time is cyclical. History and experiences, emotion and knowledge travel across time and back again, linking the artist and viewers of her work with generations of people who came before them.

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