Artworks

Spirit of the Elements, 1979

  • Artist

    Betye Saar

  • Title

    Spirit of the Elements

  • Date

    1979

  • Medium

    Metal, feathers, woven thread, and paint on wood

  • Dimensions

    9 1/4 × 8 3/4 × 1 in. (23.5 × 22.2 × 2.5 cm) Frame: 17 5/8 × 17 3/8 × 2 1/2 in. (44.8 × 44.1 × 6.4 cm)

  • Credit line

    The Studio Museum in Harlem; gift of Wynn and Sally Kramarsky, New York

  • Object Number

    1982.6.2

Recalling an Italian altarpiece with its golden semicircular top, paned sections, and central cross forms, Spirit of the Elements replaces imagery of Christ, Mary, and saints with feathers, metal disks, and thread. Betye Saar uses found and appropriated materials—fragments of ordinary and discarded objects—to underscore the powerful juxtaposition between sacred symbols and secular objects, the transcendent and the mundane.


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Artworks

Spirit of the Elements, 1979

  • Artist

    Betye Saar

  • Title

    Spirit of the Elements

  • Date

    1979

  • Medium

    Metal, feathers, woven thread, and paint on wood

  • Dimensions

    9 1/4 × 8 3/4 × 1 in. (23.5 × 22.2 × 2.5 cm) Frame: 17 5/8 × 17 3/8 × 2 1/2 in. (44.8 × 44.1 × 6.4 cm)

  • Credit line

    The Studio Museum in Harlem; gift of Wynn and Sally Kramarsky, New York

  • Object Number

    1982.6.2

Recalling an Italian altarpiece with its golden semicircular top, paned sections, and central cross forms, Spirit of the Elements replaces imagery of Christ, Mary, and saints with feathers, metal disks, and thread. Betye Saar uses found and appropriated materials—fragments of ordinary and discarded objects—to underscore the powerful juxtaposition between sacred symbols and secular objects, the transcendent and the mundane.


Explore further