Online Viewing Room Saul Steinberg Imagined Interiors Mar 23 – May 3, 2020Curated by Michaela Mohrmann Saul Steinberg (1914-1999) redefined the possibilities of drawing, casting it as a philosophical investigation, “a way of reasoning on paper.”His ingenious experiments with drawing and other media, including photography, collage, and sculpture, earned him critical acclaim as a modernist artist in the post-war period, while his numerous drawings and covers for The New Yorker made him dear to a broad American public—the people whose daily lives and customs became the subject of his art. Read More Saul Steinberg, Untitled, c. 1950, gelatin silver print, image, 8 7/8 x 5 7/8 inches paper, 10 x 8 inches (25.2 x 20.3 cm) Learn More Close modal View Previous View Next Carousel slide 0 Carousel slide 1 Saul Steinberg Untitled c. 1950 gelatin silver print image, 8 7/8 x 5 7/8 inches paper, 10 x 8 inches (25.2 x 20.3 cm) In the 1940s, Steinberg began combining drawing and photography to create Photoworks such as this. By drawing on furniture, walls, floors, and the like, he created whimsical scenes that transformed everyday objects and spaces and played with the intersection of imagination and reality. $25,000 Inquire How can we reach you? First Name* Last Name* Email* Phone Inquiry Message Have you purchased from Pace before?* Yes No Submit Inquiry Or go back Saul Steinberg, Untitled, c. 1950, gelatin silver print with hand-applied ink, 4-3/4" × 4-3/4" (12.1 cm × 12.1 cm), image 5" × 4-1/8" (12.7 cm × 10.5 cm), paper 11-5/8" × 9-5/8" × 1" (29.5 cm × 24.4 cm × 2.5 cm), frame Learn More Close modal Saul Steinberg Untitled c. 1950 gelatin silver print with hand-applied ink 4-3/4" × 4-3/4" (12.1 cm × 12.1 cm), image 5" × 4-1/8" (12.7 cm × 10.5 cm), paper 11-5/8" × 9-5/8" × 1" (29.5 cm × 24.4 cm × 2.5 cm), frame How can we reach you? First Name* Last Name* Email* Phone Inquiry Message Have you purchased from Pace before?* Yes No Submit Inquiry Or go back Creative Pursuits at HomeSteinberg often depicts interiors as cocoons of creativity—ideal sites for introspection and artistic activity, ranging from drawing, collecting, and playing instruments. Read More Saul Steinberg, Untitled, 1949, ink on paper, 14-5/8" × 23-1/4" (37.1 cm × 59.1 cm) Learn More Close modal View Previous View Next Carousel slide 0 Carousel slide 1 Saul Steinberg Untitled 1949 ink on paper 14-5/8" × 23-1/4" (37.1 cm × 59.1 cm) Steinberg repeatedly portrayed artists, including stand-ins for himself, in the process of creating. Men, however, did not have a monopoly on artistic invention. His depictions of women intently at work on their art represent a strikingly progressive stance for the 1940s. Inquire How can we reach you? First Name* Last Name* Email* Phone Inquiry Message Have you purchased from Pace before?* Yes No Submit Inquiry Or go back Saul Steinberg, Sphinx II, 1966, crayon, pencil, colored pencil, and ink on cut brown kraft paper mounted to Strathmore, 30" x 40" (76.2 cm x 101.6 cm), image 33-7/16" × 43-5/16" × 1-11/16" (84.9 cm × 110 cm × 4.3 cm), frame Learn More Close modal Saul Steinberg Sphinx II 1966 crayon, pencil, colored pencil, and ink on cut brown kraft paper mounted to Strathmore 30" x 40" (76.2 cm x 101.6 cm), image 33-7/16" × 43-5/16" × 1-11/16" (84.9 cm × 110 cm × 4.3 cm), frame The act of looking at art was one of Steinberg’s favorite themes. Here, a modernist painting has captured the attention of a cut-paper woman, who looks closely at the work mounted on the wall before her. To convey the intensity of her absorption, Steinberg rendered her in the same style, palette, and medium, thus playing with the notion that art imitates life. $90,000 Inquire How can we reach you? First Name* Last Name* Email* Phone Inquiry Message Have you purchased from Pace before?* Yes No Submit Inquiry Or go back Saul Steinberg, Untitled (Victorian Interior), 1949-1954, ink over pencil on paper, 14-1/4" × 23" (36.2 cm × 58.4 cm) Learn More Close modal Saul Steinberg Untitled (Victorian Interior) 1949-1954 ink over pencil on paper 14-1/4" × 23" (36.2 cm × 58.4 cm) Steinberg here applies his graphic skills to depicting the surfeit of a typical Victorian interior. His baroque approach to line, as well as the ornamentation of the scene, reflect a symbiosis of form and content that characterizes all his art. Inquire How can we reach you? First Name* Last Name* Email* Phone Inquiry Message Have you purchased from Pace before?* Yes No Submit Inquiry Or go back Steinberg at his drawing table in his room above the Bar Il Grillo, Milan, c. 1937. Saul Steinberg Papers, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University. "My purpose is to transform an idea that I had into a drawing. I am not so preoccupied by the outside world. I’m preoccupied with my own inside world."Saul Steinberg Saul Steinberg, Untitled (Drawing Table), 1966, ink and rubber stamp on paper, 19" x 25" (48.3 cm x 63.5 cm) Learn More Close modal Saul Steinberg Untitled (Drawing Table) 1966 ink and rubber stamp on paper 19" x 25" (48.3 cm x 63.5 cm) Inquire How can we reach you? First Name* Last Name* Email* Phone Inquiry Message Have you purchased from Pace before?* Yes No Submit Inquiry Or go back Click image to hear Charles Louise Ambroise Thomas's "Gavotte," from "Mignon," the composition pictured in Steinberg's drawing. A Closer LookIn the 1970s, Steinberg began reflecting on his early life in Romania and Italy, creating overtly autobiographical drawings—a rarity in his oeuvre. But rather than indulging in nostalgia, this image of the artist playing the violin as a boy finds humor in his humble beginnings. Keeping tempo by tapping his foot, young Steinberg seems to awaken the tiger adorning the rug—a visual play underlining the fact that both beast and child exist on the same two-dimensional plane, even though the latter is read as somehow “less flat” than the former. This drollery momentarily distracts from the modesty of the family abode, sparsely decorated with rustic furniture and folksy patterns. “I was embarrassed to be part of a primitive civilization,” Steinberg expressed of his Romanian background. Nevertheless, the centrality of music and presence of an attentive listener in this scene suggest that an appreciation for the arts did exist in his childhood home. Saul Steinberg, Untitled, 1978, pencil and colored pencil on paper, 10-1/2" × 13-3/4" (26.7 cm × 34.9 cm) Learn More Close modal Saul Steinberg Untitled 1978 pencil and colored pencil on paper 10-1/2" × 13-3/4" (26.7 cm × 34.9 cm) How can we reach you? First Name* Last Name* Email* Phone Inquiry Message Have you purchased from Pace before?* Yes No Submit Inquiry Or go back Saul Steinberg, Untitled, 1966, ink, watercolor, colored pencil and rubber stamp on Passantino brands sheet music, 19" × 14" (48.3 cm × 35.6 cm) Learn More Close modal Saul Steinberg Untitled 1966 ink, watercolor, colored pencil and rubber stamp on Passantino brands sheet music 19" × 14" (48.3 cm × 35.6 cm) Inquire How can we reach you? First Name* Last Name* Email* Phone Inquiry Message Have you purchased from Pace before?* Yes No Submit Inquiry Or go back Steinberg with the cat Papoose in his Amagansett studio, 1974 In Good Company: PetsPerhaps more than any other domestic animal, the cat evokes the insularity of urban apartment-dwelling. Because of its cerebral aloofness, the cat, a recurring figure in the work of Steinberg, operates as a stand-in for him. “There is something more clever and philosophical about the cat,” he explained. “The cat represents the artist, who is also not involved completely with the life that surrounds him.” Saul Steinberg, Untitled, 1983, crayon, graphite and ink on paper, 14-1/2" x 23" (36.8 cm x 58.4 cm) Learn More "Cats and dogs, being near people, are people. They become interesting because they clown people."Saul Steinberg Close modal Saul Steinberg Untitled 1983 crayon, graphite and ink on paper 14-1/2" x 23" (36.8 cm x 58.4 cm) A variation of one of the drawings in Steinberg’s “Domestic Animals” portfolio published in the The New Yorker in March 1983, this work combines animal features with the human figure in a wry commentary on gender conventions. Two men, portrayed as small lapdogs standing and sitting at attention and awaiting the orders or affections of the seated woman, become a metaphor for the power dynamics of male-female relationships. Inquire How can we reach you? First Name* Last Name* Email* Phone Inquiry Message Have you purchased from Pace before?* Yes No Submit Inquiry Or go back Saul Steinberg, Untitled (Now!), c. 1960-1965, watercolor, pen and ink, graphite and colored pencil on paper, 20" × 15-1/4" (50.8 cm × 38.7 cm) Learn More Close modal Saul Steinberg Untitled (Now!) c. 1960-1965 watercolor, pen and ink, graphite and colored pencil on paper 20" × 15-1/4" (50.8 cm × 38.7 cm) Inquire How can we reach you? First Name* Last Name* Email* Phone Inquiry Message Have you purchased from Pace before?* Yes No Submit Inquiry Or go back Saul Steinberg, Looking Down, 1988, marker, crayon, colored pencil and conté crayon with collage on paper, 20" x 14" (50.8 cm x 35.6 cm) Learn More In this drawing, a cat engrossed in observation parallels our position as viewers, linking three dissimilar spaces: the raucous streets of New York; the barren interior of a small apartment; and the real world beyond the drawing. By identifying with the cat, the viewer ironically loses the cool remove that is the feline’s chief characteristic. A visual magnet, the pet quickly draws our gaze past the spartan home toward a bewildering urbanscape, made all the more eye-catching by its tilted spatial coordinates and accents of color. Close modal Saul Steinberg Looking Down 1988 marker, crayon, colored pencil and conté crayon with collage on paper 20" x 14" (50.8 cm x 35.6 cm) Inquire How can we reach you? First Name* Last Name* Email* Phone Inquiry Message Have you purchased from Pace before?* Yes No Submit Inquiry Or go back Utagawa Hiroshige (Ando) (Japanese, 1797-1858), Asakusa Ricefields and Torinomachi Festival, No. 101 from One Hundred Famous Views of Edo, 11th month of 1857, Woodblock print, Sheet: 14 3/16 x 9 1/4 in. (36 x 23.5 cm) © Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Anna Ferris Looking Down’s mise-en-scène references Utagawa Hiroshige’s ukiyo-e print of an Edo period brothel visited during the Torinomachi Festival. Hiroshige emphasizes the impenetrable intimacy and quietude of the prostitute’s chamber by showing only a cat, rather than nude bodies, and by reducing the festival’s clamorous street procession to a faint, meandering line in the distance. Looking Down, by contrast, amplifies the intrusiveness of the outside world. A subtext may be surmised: in modern times, the divide between private and public spheres is porous, making the critical distance of cat-like artists perhaps indispensable. Portals to Other WorldsSteinberg defies the hermeticism and immobility of most still life compositions through autobiographical details evocative of distant locations and styles exuding a dynamic vitality. Read More Saul Steinberg, Untitled, 1989, colored pencil, crayon and pencil on MBM Ingres d’Arches folded in half, 19-5/8" × 26-7/8" (49.8 cm × 68.3 cm) Learn More Close modal Saul Steinberg Untitled 1989 colored pencil, crayon and pencil on MBM Ingres d’Arches folded in half 19-5/8" × 26-7/8" (49.8 cm × 68.3 cm) Inquire How can we reach you? First Name* Last Name* Email* Phone Inquiry Message Have you purchased from Pace before?* Yes No Submit Inquiry Or go back I try to use a very poor alphabet for expressing ideas that may be very complicated. And this is the nearest thing to poetry, where common words are used in order to explain very complicated things. Saul Steinberg Click image to hear an audio recording of William Carlos Williams reading his 1934 poem, This is Just to Say. This is Just to Sayby William Carlos Williams I have eatenthe plumsthat were inthe iceboxand whichyou were probablysavingfor breakfastForgive methey were deliciousso sweetand so cold Saul Steinberg, Still Life, 1980-1981, graphite on folded paper, 14-1/2" x 23-1/8" (36.8 cm x 58.7 cm) Learn More Close modal Saul Steinberg Still Life 1980-1981 graphite on folded paper 14-1/2" x 23-1/8" (36.8 cm x 58.7 cm) Steinberg’s still-life compositions often reflect the autobiographical nature of his work, and in many cases include objects from his surroundings or of his own making. This four-frame drawing includes the artist’s own violin, his drawing equipment, souvenirs, and a clock of his own making. In the composition at upper right is a standing mobile that Steinberg owned by his close friend Alexander Calder, with whom he shared a sense of visual wit. Inquire How can we reach you? First Name* Last Name* Email* Phone Inquiry Message Have you purchased from Pace before?* Yes No Submit Inquiry Or go back Saul Steinberg, Speeding Still Life, 1979, ink, rubber stamp, and pencil on paper, 19-5/8" x 22-5/8" (49.8 cm x 57.5 cm) Learn More Close modal Saul Steinberg Speeding Still Life 1979 ink, rubber stamp, and pencil on paper 19-5/8" x 22-5/8" (49.8 cm x 57.5 cm) Inquire How can we reach you? First Name* Last Name* Email* Phone Inquiry Message Have you purchased from Pace before?* Yes No Submit Inquiry Or go back Saul Steinberg, Swiss Still Life, 1988, watercolor, marker, ink, colored pencil, and collaged pentimenti on paper, 17-7/8" x 23-7/8" (45.4 cm x 60.6 cm) Learn More Close modal Saul Steinberg Swiss Still Life 1988 watercolor, marker, ink, colored pencil, and collaged pentimenti on paper 17-7/8" x 23-7/8" (45.4 cm x 60.6 cm) Inquire How can we reach you? First Name* Last Name* Email* Phone Inquiry Message Have you purchased from Pace before?* Yes No Submit Inquiry Or go back The Fantastic Everyday"I play with the absurdity of reality. There is something absurd about what we consider to be real—even what we consider to be absurd."Saul Steinberg Read More Saul Steinberg, Untitled, 1983, crayon, graphite and ink on paper, 14-1/2" x 23" (36.8 cm x 58.4 cm) Learn More Close modal Saul Steinberg Untitled 1983 crayon, graphite and ink on paper 14-1/2" x 23" (36.8 cm x 58.4 cm) From Aesop to La Fontaine, allegorical tales have used animals as human stand-ins, and Steinberg’s art contains many such examples. Here he depicts himself as a cat confronting a butterfly-woman—a provocative and enigmatic scene rendered all the more fantastic by its backdrop, a typical 1980s interior. Variants of this concept place the same actors in different settings—for instance, a barren landscape backed by strangely rising buildings—which, as in this work, exude an almost surrealistic quality. Inquire How can we reach you? First Name* Last Name* Email* Phone Inquiry Message Have you purchased from Pace before?* Yes No Submit Inquiry Or go back Saul Steinberg, Untitled, 1981, ink over graphite and colored pencil on paper, 14-1/2" × 23" (36.8 cm × 58.4 cm), image 20-15/16" × 28-13/16" × 1-9/16" (53.2 cm × 73.2 cm × 4 cm), frame Learn More Close modal Saul Steinberg Untitled 1981 ink over graphite and colored pencil on paper 14-1/2" × 23" (36.8 cm × 58.4 cm), image 20-15/16" × 28-13/16" × 1-9/16" (53.2 cm × 73.2 cm × 4 cm), frame $55,000 Inquire How can we reach you? First Name* Last Name* Email* Phone Inquiry Message Have you purchased from Pace before?* Yes No Submit Inquiry Or go back Saul Steinberg, Bedroom Sphinx, 1987, oil pastel, pencil, and wash on paper, 56-1/2 x 45-1/2" Learn More Close modal Saul Steinberg Bedroom Sphinx 1987 oil pastel, pencil, and wash on paper 56-1/2 x 45-1/2" $75,000 Inquire How can we reach you? First Name* Last Name* Email* Phone Inquiry Message Have you purchased from Pace before?* Yes No Submit Inquiry Or go back Saul Steinberg, Untitled, 1981, brush and ink, marker, colored pencil and graphite on paper, 14-1/2" x 23-1/4" (36.8 cm x 59.1 cm) Learn More Close modal View Previous View Next Carousel slide 0 Carousel slide 1 Saul Steinberg Untitled 1981 brush and ink, marker, colored pencil and graphite on paper 14-1/2" x 23-1/4" (36.8 cm x 59.1 cm) Inquire How can we reach you? First Name* Last Name* Email* Phone Inquiry Message Have you purchased from Pace before?* Yes No Submit Inquiry Or go back Saul Steinberg, Untitled (Stage set for Rossini’s comic opera Count Ory), 1958, ink, colored pencil, crayon and watercolor over graphite on paper, 14" x 23" (35.6 cm x 58.4 cm) Learn More Close modal Saul Steinberg Untitled (Stage set for Rossini’s comic opera Count Ory) 1958 ink, colored pencil, crayon and watercolor over graphite on paper 14" x 23" (35.6 cm x 58.4 cm) Inquire How can we reach you? First Name* Last Name* Email* Phone Inquiry Message Have you purchased from Pace before?* Yes No Submit Inquiry Or go back At Home in PublicBy relocating domestic objects into the streets or capturing people at ease in communal spaces, Steinberg often suggests the blurring of indoors and outdoors in modern life. Read More Saul Steinberg, Untitled (Train Passengers), 1952, pen, ink and graphite on paper, 14-1/2" x 23-1/4" (36.8 cm x 59.1 cm) Learn More Close modal Saul Steinberg Untitled (Train Passengers) 1952 pen, ink and graphite on paper 14-1/2" x 23-1/4" (36.8 cm x 59.1 cm) Inquire How can we reach you? First Name* Last Name* Email* Phone Inquiry Message Have you purchased from Pace before?* Yes No Submit Inquiry Or go back Saul Steinberg, Untitled, June 12, 1950, gelatin silver print, 4-1/8" × 4-7/8" (10.5 cm × 12.4 cm), image 5" × 4" (12.7 cm × 10.2 cm), paper 11-5/8" × 9-5/8" × 1" (29.5 cm × 24.4 cm × 2.5 cm), frame Learn More Close modal Saul Steinberg Untitled June 12, 1950 gelatin silver print 4-1/8" × 4-7/8" (10.5 cm × 12.4 cm), image 5" × 4" (12.7 cm × 10.2 cm), paper 11-5/8" × 9-5/8" × 1" (29.5 cm × 24.4 cm × 2.5 cm), frame Inquire How can we reach you? First Name* Last Name* Email* Phone Inquiry Message Have you purchased from Pace before?* Yes No Submit Inquiry Or go back Saul Steinberg, Chest of Drawers Cityscape, 1950, gelatin silver print, image, 9 5/8 x 6 7/8 inches paper, 10 1/8 x 8 inches (25.7 cm x 20.3 cm) Learn More Close modal Saul Steinberg Chest of Drawers Cityscape 1950 gelatin silver print image, 9 5/8 x 6 7/8 inches paper, 10 1/8 x 8 inches (25.7 cm x 20.3 cm) Inquire How can we reach you? First Name* Last Name* Email* Phone Inquiry Message Have you purchased from Pace before?* Yes No Submit Inquiry Or go back Saul Steinberg, Untitled, c. 1950, gelatin silver print, image, 10 1/8 x 8 1/8 inches paper, 14 x 11 inches (35.6 x 27.9 cm) Learn More Close modal Saul Steinberg Untitled c. 1950 gelatin silver print image, 10 1/8 x 8 1/8 inches paper, 14 x 11 inches (35.6 x 27.9 cm) $24,000 Inquire How can we reach you? First Name* Last Name* Email* Phone Inquiry Message Have you purchased from Pace before?* Yes No Submit Inquiry Or go back Saul Steinberg, Untitled (Family Walking Down the Street), c. 1950, gelatin silver print with hand-applied ink, 4-1/2" × 2-3/4" (11.4 cm × 7 cm), image and paper 11-5/8" × 9-5/8" × 1" (29.5 cm × 24.4 cm × 2.5 cm), frame Learn More Close modal Saul Steinberg Untitled (Family Walking Down the Street) c. 1950 gelatin silver print with hand-applied ink 4-1/2" × 2-3/4" (11.4 cm × 7 cm), image and paper 11-5/8" × 9-5/8" × 1" (29.5 cm × 24.4 cm × 2.5 cm), frame How can we reach you? First Name* Last Name* Email* Phone Inquiry Message Have you purchased from Pace before?* Yes No Submit Inquiry Or go back Steinberg in his Amagansett studio, c. 1978 Saul Steinbergb. 1914, Râmnicul Sarat, Romania; d. 1999, New YorkSaul Steinberg produced drawings, sculptures, photographs, and collages that continue to elicit critical contemplation. Having studied architecture in Milan, he fled wartime Italy in 1941 and became an American citizen two years later. Influenced by Dada, Surrealism, Cubism, and Pop, Steinberg’s varied output reflects the defiant humor, curiosity, and modernist attitude of an artist trying to make sense of the chaotic postwar period. Marked by a self-aware wit, his work embraces double meanings and philosophical content expressed through graphic means. Widely celebrated for his contributions to The New Yorker, Steinberg’s art became an exploration of social and political systems, language, and art itself.Steinberg’s work is held in permanent collections internationally, including the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York; American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters, New York; Art Institute of Chicago; The Baltimore Museum of Art; Centre Pompidou, Paris; Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C.; Israel Museum, Jerusalem; Jewish Museum, New York; Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.; Moderna Museet, Stockholm; The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; The Museum of Modern Art, New York; National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, and the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, among others. All images © 2020 Saul Steinberg Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York Read More Past, Saul Steinberg, Imagined Interiors, Mar 23, 2020