Europe

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Click on the arrow to hear Betye Saar’s voice and the kinds of sounds she experienced while she traveled through the Americas.Run time 1 minute 42 seconds.

My Secret Heart is seduced by twilight.
It longs for solitude and the exotic.
It remembers the colors of dreams.
The aura of Indigo Illusions conjures
these colors and the Blue Vision at the Villa appears.
Also the Green Vision and the Red Vision.

—From Saar’s poem “My Secret Heart” (1993–1997)

Although Saar has long been less interested in traveling to Europe than to locations that are further afield and more distinct from her life and context in California, in the mid-1990s she spent extended periods of time exploring the continent. In 1994, she completed an artist residency in a villa in Bellagio, Italy, on the shores of Lake Como and created the three works on display here, which she also referenced in her poem “My Secret Heart.” Urn shapes and vases that recall Roman antiquities recur throughout these pieces, although more exotic elements—such as what appear to be branching coral—are juxtaposed with the classic forms.

During this period of extensive European travel, Saar repeatedly drew on images of ancient Catholic saints, particularly those whose origins were on the margins of the European continent. For example, dark-skinned Byzantine Madonnas and eyes reminiscent of Saint Lucy of Syracuse —who is often shown holding her own eyes—recur throughout works Saar created during this period. Like Isabella Stewart Gardner, who collected many Catholic artworks and objects, Saar was drawn to the mystical, evocative pageantry of Catholic ritual when traveling in Europe.

Click on the arrow to hear the kinds of sounds she experienced while she traveled through the Europe. (Run time # minutes)

Betye Saar, Blue Vision at the Villa, 1994. Mixed media assemblage.

This mixed media assemblage has a blue painted background. Near the bottom is a thin horizontal wood shelf that has a series of blue rings below. Above this shelf are three vibrant coral rectangular panels, with a smaller rectangle at the top of the middle section. The smaller panel is decorated with an oval blue flower-like piece. To the right and left of the outermost corral panels are two small 3D blue cases with red coral like objects protruding from them toward the top of the assemblage. In the center coral panel is a tall, small blue pedestal with the image of a flying horse facing down. On the pedestal sits a tiny golden vase. Above this section is a light-colored panel that fades from white to yellow to orangish-red and has a dragon-like figure at the center. The dragon is light green in color and has its head turned toward the viewer with its mouth open showing its teeth and fangs. There are black and grey watercolor streaks throughout surrounding the dragon. Hanging at the upper corners are turquoise discs decorated with circular motifs and four smaller rocks hang from the bottom edge. This piece is framed with a simple wood frame.

Betye Saar, Green Vision at the Villa, 1994. Mixed media assemblage.

Betye Saar, Evening in Paris, 2010. Mixed media assemblage

This mixed media assemblage is a silver-colored bird’s cage with an acorn shaped blue finial at the top and a metal silver and blue-colored chain hanging to the right. Inside the cage are several deep blue glass objects: a replica of the Eiffel Tower hangs from the top of the cage and rests in a blue glass hand that is cupping its base; a string instrument to the right; and two stacked glass bottles to the left. There is also a large gem-shaped oval piece made of light greenish-blue glass that appears to have at least one face carved into it. The cage is set on a rimmed turquoise-blue plate with small knob-like feet.

Betye Saar, Crete, Greece, page, 1982. Watercolor and collage.

Two opposing rectangular pages of a sketchbook are oriented horizontally. Each page contains a drawing of a large, amphora-shaped, light brown, gourd-like vessel. These similar vessels have a long, thin, tube-like neck with designs and shapes that resemble a face and a much larger, bulbous, rounded body decorated with geometric shapes (rectangles, circles, triangles). The geometric designs on the right gourd create another face like paters with concentric circles making eyes and a upside down triangle with a grid pattern in it resembling a mouth. There is one thin, tube-like projection extending from the upper body of both gourds that resembles a rudimentary arm. The arm protrudes from the left gourd at center of its body while the arm on the right gourd protrudes from its right side. Both arms enclose a smaller oval nut-like shape to the left side of the gourds. The page on the left has a teal watercolor background and the gourd is skinnier and taller compared to the gourd on the right page. The right side page has a multihued, blue background that ranges from sky blue to midnight blue. There is a series of hand-lettered, black writing. It forms a band around the periphery of each page. The writing includes letters of the Greek alphabet, symbols, English letters and words. Among the indecipherable symbols and words are the words Minoan, cipher, Agios, WNEAR, A, and others.

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