High Yella' Blue

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High Yella' Blue

Artist Alison Saar (American, born 1956)

Publisher Tandem Press

Date2016

Dimensions12 × 12 in. (30.5 × 30.5 cm)
Sheet: 9 1/4 × 9 1/8 in. (23.5 × 23.2 cm)

MediumIntaglio and pochoir on found handkerchief; variable edition

ClassificationPrints

Credit LineWinthrop H. Perry Fund

Object number

2017.6

Not on View

Label TextAlison Saar frequently creates depictions of women in various physical and emotional states to explore themes of cultural identity and spirituality. The title of this piece, High Yella’ Blue, alludes to the term “High Yellow,” coined during the time of slavery, “that described [mixed-race] individuals classified as Black according to the so-called ‘one-drop’ [of blood] rule.” By depicting the woman’s face with brown and white tones, Saar visually makes a connection to the title’s mixed racial reference. In so doing, Saar, biracial herself, creates work that is both personal and universal. In this piece she creates an ‘everywoman’ face with tears running down her cheeks to indicate that grief is a commonly shared emotion. The vacant eyes and crisply illustrated tears produce a haunting effect that is further enhanced by the fact that the image is printed on a vintage handkerchief, a now-archaic object contemporary viewers can easily identify, though perhaps have never used.Comparative ReferencesSee also Tallman, Susan, Nancy Doll, and Alison Saar, Mirror, Mirror: the Prints of Alison Saar: from the collections of Jordan D. Schnitzer and his family foundation, Jordan Schnitzer Family Foundation, 2019, p. 15 and p. 98, no. 31, repr. col. p. 74.