LOS ANGELES — Artist Betye Saar died at age 99 in Los Angeles on Sunday morning, July 26, 2026. Her death was confirmed Monday by relatives.

Saar died days before her 100th birthday. She was a pioneer of assemblage art and a defining figure of the Black Arts Movement.

Christophe Cherix, director of the Museum of Modern Art, described Saar's legacy in a statement. "All her life, Betye dismantled racist imagery, transforming it into a monument of black empowerment, resilience and resistance." Cherix said.

Saar created three-dimensional art with found objects. Her practice incorporated painting, printmaking, sculpture, and found objects such as dolls, washboards, boats, clocks, cages, and altars. "I'm the kind of person who recycles materials, but I also recycle emotions and feelings," she said in an interview.

Saar was born in 1926 in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles. She witnessed artist Simon Rodia assembling the Watts Towers during her childhood, which influenced her later work. "He put these steel structures up and covered them in cement and pressed shards of ceramics, of plates. I've seen corn cobs in there. I've seen tools. I think that was the beginning of my becoming an assemblagist or a recycler," she said.

Saar grew up in Pasadena with her mother, who worked as a seamstress. She majored in design at the University of California, Los Angeles, where she received a scholarship for minority students that covered her tuition. Saar graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1949.

After graduating, Saar worked as a designer of greeting cards, jewelry, and houseware. She launched her career as a professional printmaker. Saar shifted to art at age 35. She was a mother of three daughters when she created the artwork that put her on the map.

Saar recalled the limited opportunities for Black artists in her early career. "There weren’t that many galleries in Los Angeles at the time and there certainly weren’t any for Black artists." She was part of a community of Black artists in Altadena.

Saar's artwork 'Black Girl's Window' was made in 1969. The Museum of Modern Art acquired the piece in 2019. She had a solo show at the Whitney Museum of American Art in 1975. Her work has been exhibited at the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Institute of Contemporary Art in Miami, the New-York Historical Society, and the Huntington Library in San Marino, Calif.

The Museum of Modern Art hosted a solo show of Saar's work in 2019. The Los Angeles County Museum of Art also mounted a solo show of her work in 2019. Saar continued to create art in her home studio well into her late 90s.

Roberts Projects in Los Angeles is Saar's longtime gallery. An exhibition titled 'Let’s Get It On: The Wearable Art of Saar' is on view at the gallery. An exhibition titled 'Saar's Black Dolls' is on display at the New-York Historical Society.

Rebecca Klassen is the curator of the exhibition at the New-York Historical Society. Klassen described Saar's impact on the art world. "Betye was a true magician. She seemed to suggest through her work that we could all become magicians in our own ways by doing what she did — by looking into the past lives of objects, seeing their energies and working them so that they could construct better futures, better worlds, and mystical imaginations." Klassen said.

Saar mentored generations of Black artists, including painter Kerry James Marshall. Angela Robinson Witherspoon produced and directed a documentary on Saar's life in 2023 titled 'Saar: Ready to Be A Warrior'. The documentary features interviews with John Legend and Tina Knowles. Saar was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters in spring 2026.