Dat Ol' Black Magic

1981

Betye Saar

Associated Names
Betye Saar

Artist, American, born 1926

The image shows a composition of diagonal red stripes alternating with off-white and grey background areas. Long rectangular shapes resembling domino tiles with red, black, and yellow elements are scattered throughout. There are also yellow, petal-like shapes and a silhouette of a person in a white coat within a red oval shape. In one corner, there is a square design made of smaller grey and red squares. The various shapes and colors come together to create an abstract pattern.
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Artwork overview

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Thurlow Evans Tibbs, Jr. [1952-1997], Washington, DC; Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, 1996; acquired 2014 by the National Gallery of Art

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1985

  • The Art of Collage, The Evans-Tibbs Collection, Washington, DC, 1985, no. 28

2003

  • Black is a Color: African American Art at the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC; Taft Museum of Art, Cincinnati, Ohio; Mobile Museum of Art, Alabama; Plains Art Museum, Fargo, North Dakota, 2003-2007

2015

  • Focus on the Corcoran: Works on Paper, 1860-1990, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, 2015

Inscriptions

lower left in graphite: Betye Saar 1981

Wikidata ID

Q64537550

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