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Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College
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Identification and Creation

Object Number
M24231
People
Betye Saar, American (Los Angeles, CA born 1926)
Title
Blow Top Blues: The Fire Next Time
Classification
Prints
Work Type
print
Date
1997
Culture
American
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/190794

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Lithograph and collage
Technique
Lithograph
Inscriptions and Marks
  • inscription: Verso in pencil: Inscribed: 97.618
  • inscription: l.l in yellow pencil: AP 4 Blow Top Blues: The Fire Next Time Betye Saar 1998
  • stamp: l.r: Solo Press Impression

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
[G. W. Einstein Company, Inc., New York, New York], sold; to Harvard University Art Museums, October 4, 1999.

State, Edition, Standard Reference Number

Edition
A/P 4

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Margaret Fisher Fund
Copyright
© Courtesy of the artist and Roberts Projects, Los Angeles, California. © 1997 Betye Saar
Accession Year
1999
Object Number
M24231
Division
Modern and Contemporary Art
Contact
am_moderncontemporary@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Descriptions

Description
Lithograph collage using white wove paper varnished over the figure at the lower right. Cut out eyes painted over with colored wash.
Commentary
Betye Saar first received national acclaim with her famous The Liberation of Aunt Jemima of 1972. An assemblage which featured the derogatory Mammy of the flapjack mix armed with grenades and a rifle standing behind a symbolic fist of black power, the work imploded feminist and racist stereotypes, and it is to this theme of militant Mammies that Saar returns in this print. Here, Aunt Jemima is devoid of grenades and rifle, but is armed rather with a bandana inscribed 'LIBERATION,' from which shoots out a profusion of fearsome flames. Fire is a recurring sign of the occult that the artist often combines with contemporary imagery to suggest her exploration of a cross-cultural past couched in the present. In this print, a varnished lithographic cut-out of Aunt Jemima juts out from the lower corner over a standard lithographic background of orange/red flames that contrast against the predominantly blueish purple field. The print presents some enigmas of technique for a mass-produced planographic work: each letter on the bandana has been embellished with a depressed linear outline, while the cut-out eyes of the figure seem to have been washed over with additional color. For the last decade, Betye Saar has enjoyed a collaborative partnership with her daughter Alison-"power-gathering" Saar calls it.

Verification Level

This record was created from historic documentation and may not have been reviewed by a curator; it may be inaccurate or incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Modern and Contemporary Art at am_moderncontemporary@harvard.edu