Black Phrenology Man

Source catalog description

This description refers to material held by Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. Visual details below describe the original material.

A mixed media assemblage artwork by Betye Saar. The collage of materials are inside a deep brown wood frame with two panes, the left pane with a glass pane and the right without. The assemblage/collage is made of three divisions, two of them in the left pane and one of them in the right. From left to right, the first division is a vertical strip of teal blue with a dark blue crescent moon on the left and an orange sun on the right against a deep blue background. The second division is the side profile of a person facing left. The etching of the side profile is a dark red brown color with a dark background. There is backward text in the head reading [HATE], [LOVE], and [SEX]. The third division in the right panel is the side profile of a person facing right against a dark blue background.

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