Saul Steinberg

This page is about the artist; there is also an investor named Saul Steinberg.

Saul Steinberg (June 15, 1914–May 12, 1999) was a Romanian-American cartoonist and illustrator, best known for his work for The New Yorker magazine.

Biography

Steinberg was born in Râmnicu Sărat, Romania. He studied philosophy for a year at the University of Bucharest, then later enrolled at the Politecnico di Milano, studying architecture and graduating in 1940. During his years in Milan he was actively involved in the satirical magazine "Bertoldo".

Steinberg came to the United States in 1942, escaping the introduction of anti-Semitic laws in Fascist Italy.

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The "View of the World" cover

The "View of the World" cover

Steinberg did 85 covers and 642 drawings for The New Yorker. His most famous work is probably its March 29 1976 cover, an illustration titled "View of the World from 9th Avenue," sometimes referred to as "A Parochial New Yorker's View of the World" or "A New Yorker's View of the World," which depicts a map of the world as seen by self-absorbed New Yorkers.

The illustration is split in two, with the bottom half of the image showing Manhattan's 9th Avenue, 10th Avenue, and the Hudson River (appropriately labeled), and the top half depicting the rest of the world. The rest of the United States is the size of the three New York City blocks and is drawn as a square, with a thin brown strip along the Hudson representing "Jersey", the names of five cities (Los Angeles, Washington D.C., Las Vegas, Kansas City, and Chicago) and three states (Texas, Utah, and Nebraska) scattered among a few rocks for the U.S. beyond New Jersey. The Pacific Ocean, perhaps half again as wide as the Hudson, separates the U.S. from three flattened land masses labeled China, Japan and Russia.

Cultural legacy

The illustration—humorously depicting New Yorkers' self-image of their place in the world, or perhaps outsiders' view of New Yorkers' self-image—inspired many similar works, including the poster for the 1984 film Moscow on the Hudson; that movie poster led to a lawsuit, Steinberg v. Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc., 663 F. Supp. 706 (S.D.N.Y. 1987), which held that Columbia Pictures violated the copyright that Steinberg held on his work.

See also

• "New Yorkistan"

External links

• The Saul Steinberg Foundation, established by the artist's will
• Etchings of Steinberg, from the National Gallery of Art
• The Steinberg Collection from a website owned by The New Yorker