104
●
BETYE SAAR (1926 - )
Samsara
.
Color etching on cream wove paper, 1960. 381x410 mm; 15x16
1
/
8
inches, wide margins. Artist’s
proof, aside from an edition of unknown size. Signed, titled, dated, and inscribed “Artist’s Proof ” in
pencil, lower margin.
This is the first impression of this very scarce and important print by Betye Saar to come to auction.
Samsara
is one of Saar’s earliest prints, an experimental color etching that was chosen for inclusion in
the influential 1967 survey
Prints by American Negro Artists
by Dr. Victor Roelof-Lannar. Jane H.
Carpenter discusses
Samsara
and its significance to her printmaking in her 2002 thesis
Conjure women:
Betye Saar and rituals of transformation, 1960-1990
. Carpenter later begins her 2003 Pomegranate volume
on Saar’s career in the David C. Driskell series with her mention of this print. Carpenter p. 59.
[1,000/1,500]
