The New York Historical will present "Betye Saar’s Black Dolls" from May 8 to October 4, 2026, celebrating the artist’s 100th birthday. The exhibition features 27 dolls from Saar’s promised gift of over 100 Black dolls to the museum, alongside 15 watercolors and several assemblages, including "Hoo Doo Woman" (1974) and "Indigo Mercy" (1975). Saar, a key figure in the Black Arts and feminist art movements, began collecting Black dolls in the late 1960s after growing up without one.
The exhibition matters because it honors a pioneering artist at a milestone age while highlighting her lifelong engagement with Black dolls as objects of memory, history, and creative transformation. Saar’s promised gift significantly enriches The New York Historical’s collection, and the show underscores how her work reclaims and reanimates historical objects, addressing themes of racism, identity, and spirituality that remain deeply relevant.