![Anticipation, by Betye Saar, 1961](/sites/default/files/styles/archive_artwork/public/migrated-assets/media/Digital_archives/Now_Dig_This_/Art/DIG.56.jpg?itok=FtVRFNnG)
Betye Saar, Artist
Anticipation
, 1961
Medium
Serigraph, Edition 12/15
Dimensions
26 x 22 in. (66 x 55.9 cm)
Credit Line
Collection of Alvin and Jeffalyn Johnson. Photo by Ed Glendinning
Anticipation is a crucial work for Saar, as she began to experiment with layering and textures, elements that would characterize her later work with assemblage. The print portrays a pregnant woman, perhaps Saar herself, meditating. This reflective state seems to presage the artist’s move away from representational work and into more mystical and symbolic iconography.