1 of 5

Caption

Betye Saar American, born 1926. Sacred Symbols, 1988. Wood, pigment, framed: 12 1/8 x 13 5/8 in. (30.8 x 34.6 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of West Family Trust, 2015.100. © artist or artist's estate (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 2015.100_PS11.jpg)

Title

Sacred Symbols

Date

1988

Medium

Wood, pigment

Classification

Painting

Dimensions

framed: 12 1/8 x 13 5/8 in. (30.8 x 34.6 cm)

Credit Line

Gift of West Family Trust

Accession Number

2015.100

Rights

© artist or artist's estate

The Brooklyn Museum holds a non-exclusive license to reproduce images of this work of art from the rights holder named here. The Museum does not warrant that the use of this work will not infringe on the rights of third parties. It is your responsibility to determine and satisfy copyright or other use restrictions before copying, transmitting, or making other use of protected items beyond that allowed by "fair use," as such term is understood under the United States Copyright Act. For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org. If you wish to contact the rights holder for this work, please email copyright@brooklynmuseum.org and we will assist if we can.

Frequent Art Questions

  • Tell me more.

    This work includes a computer circuit board. Saar often uses computer boards and chips in her assemblages.
    The symbols you see on the red frame are a mix of occult, palmistry, and alchemy symbols. Saar said about her interest in mysticism:
    "In the early 1960's I began going to coffee houses, and they'd have books on the occult. I was attracted to signs and diagrams of alchemy and palmistry, and I began to use them in my prints."

Have information?

Have information about an artwork? Contact us at

bkmcollections@brooklynmuseum.org.