The Painting That Set Betye Saar's Auction Record
3 min read · 27 Jul 2026
Rainbow Mojo. Image courtesy of Sotheby's
Betye Saar's Rainbow Mojo (1972) sold for $378,000 at Sotheby's in New York on November 16, 2022. The acrylic-on-cut-leather work had been traded twice in the past.
The sale beat the artist’s previous auction record by $290,500, a 325% rise.
Saar's painting on leather was first shown in 1973 in her hometown of Los Angeles in a solo show at California State University, Fine Arts Gallery. Then it was titled simply Rainbow.
It was another 44 years before the work was shown in public again when it was among the highlights of the touring exhibition Soul of a Nation, which opened at Tate Modern in 2017 and then toured to Alice Walthon' Crystal Bridges Museum, The Broad in LA, San Francisco's de Young Museum, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, by which time the veteran artist's reputation was secure.
Sojourn (1995). Sold for $87,500 in 2021. Image courtesy of Swann Galleries
Her previous record was set by her assemblage Sojourn (1995), which sold for $87,500 at Swann Galleries on April 22, 2021.
Sale Date | Title | Price | Record Increase | Venue | City |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
November 16, 2022 | Rainbow Mojo | $378,000 | 332 % | Sotheby's | New York |
April 22, 2021 | Sojourn | $87,500 | 7 % | Swann Galleries | New York |
November 18, 2020 | ABCD Education | $81,900 | 93 % | Sotheby's | New York |
October 04, 2018 | Adori | $42,500 | - | Swann Galleries | New York |
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