Research Catalog

Details

Additional authors

1. Jentleson, Katherine
2. Federman, Rachel, 1980-
3. Roberts, Julie
4. Leeser, Maddy Inez, 1993-
5. Roberts Projects (Gallery), host institution.

Description

1. 221 pages : illustrations; 32 cm +

Summary

1. This volume features new watercolor works on paper and assemblages by Betye Saar (born 1926) that incorporate the artist's personal collection of Black dolls. These watercolors showcase the artist's experimentation with vivid color and layered techniques, and her new interest in flat shapes. While Saar has previously used painting in her mixed-media collages, this is the first publication to focus on her watercolor works on paper. "Watercolor is something that children use, so I decided, maybe I'll paint something about children, maybe I'll paint the dolls," Saar says. Referencing the underrepresented history of Black dolls through Saar's artistic lens, this catalog distills several intersecting themes, imagery and objects in Saar's oeuvre, highlighting her prominent usage and reinvention of Black imagery. It contains 90 color images, including early assemblage works that feature Black dolls, such as Gris-Gris Box (1972) and Mti (1973), plus early sketchbooks and a curated selection of Saar's Black doll collection. It also includes original essays by Rachel Federman, Associate Curator of Modern and Contemporary Drawings at the Morgan Library & Museum, and Katherine Jentleson, Merrie and Dan Boone Curator of Folk and Self-Taught Art at the High Museum of Art, and an interview with the artist by her granddaughter, Maddy Inez Leeser.

Alternative title

1. Black doll blues

Subject

1. Saar, Betye > Exhibitions
2. Saar, Betye > Interviews
3. Saar, Betye > Criticism and interpretation
4. Saar, Betye > Art collections
5. Saar, Betye
6. 2000-2099
7. African American women artists > California > Exhibitions
8. African American art > 21st century > Exhibitions
9. Watercolor painting > 21st century > Exhibitions
10. Black dolls > Exhibitions
11. Dolls in art > Exhibitions
12. Black people in art > Exhibitions
13. Women artists
14. Dolls in art
15. Art > Private collections
16. African American artists
17. Watercolor painting
18. Black dolls
19. Black people in art
20. African American art
21. African American women artists
22. Criticism and interpretation
23. California
24. United States

Genre/Form

1. Interviews.
2. Exhibition catalogs.
3. Criticism, interpretation, etc.
4. Art criticism.

Contents

1. Foreword / Julie Roberts -- Section I: Sketchbooks -- Black dolls in vibrant color / Katherine Jentleson -- Section II: Assemblage and collage -- Section III: Black doll collection -- Interview with Betye Saar / Maddy Inez Leeser -- Section IV: Watercolors -- Soft power: Betye Saar's watercolor dolls / Rachel Federman -- Section V: Exhibition -- List of Black doll collection.

Call number

1. Sc+ G 23-26

Note

1. Published on the occasion of an exhibition at Roberts Projects, Culver City, California, September 18-November 6, 2021.

Author

1. Saar, Betye, artist.

Title

1. Betye Saar : Black doll blues / by [Maddy Inez Leeser (Interviewer), Betye Saar (Artist), Julie Roberts (Foreword), Rachel Federman (Contributor), Katherine Jentleson (Contributor)].

Publisher

1. Los Angeles, California : Roberts Projects, [2022]

Distributor

1. New York, New York : Artbook D.A.P.

Copyright date

1. ©2022

Type of content

1. text
2. still image

Type of medium

1. unmediated

Type of carrier

1. volume

Chronological term

1. 2000-2099

Local subject

1. Black author.

Added author

1. Jentleson, Katherine, writer of supplementary textual content.
2. Federman, Rachel, 1980- writer of supplementary textual content.
3. Roberts, Julie, author of the foreword.
4. Leeser, Maddy Inez, 1993- interviewer.
5. Roberts Projects (Gallery), host institution.

LCCN

1. 2022905768

ISBN

1. 9781733664769 (hardcover)
2. 1733664769 (hardcover)

Research call number

1. Sc+ G 23-26