Saul Steinberg +other artists main sources for research:
· https://saulsteinbergfoundation.org/
· https://heddasternefoundation.org/
· https://www.tate.org.uk/
· https://www.wikipedia.org/
Saul
Steinberg Talks (1967)
· https://youtu.be/2yvWEJr2dpE?si=Pb4ez8JnWKmr3737
Book used:
· J.Smith, (2006) Saul Steinberg: Illuminations.
New Haven, Conneticut Yale University Press
Script unedited:
“I see around that most artists are
runaways.” - said Saul Steinberg. A sentiment I can very much relate to. But
where is he coming from?
He arrived in New York 1942 as a
Romanian Jewish immigrant, fleeing from fascistic governments in Europe.
He was born into a middle-class family
and studied architecture in Milan, which he could not pursue due to racial
laws. However, he was successful at contributing cartoons to a humour
newspaper.
Steinberg's first drawing appeared in
The New Yorker before he received his US visa. He worked for The New Yorker for
nearly six decades, while also exhibiting internationally in galleries and
museums.
Steinberg met Hedda Sterne, a fellow
Jewish - Romanian highly autonomous artist, who exhibited with the Surrealists
and later with the Abstract Expressionists. They had a lot in common, as
refugees newly arrived in New York. As the LIFE magazine wrote when they got
married: “both fascinated by the US; he by the habits of people; she by
machines and towering structures. Both want to create a new picture of America,
but not the same pictures.”
I have selected some themes that
were in the centre of Steinberg’s attention.
First, individualism, the self,
identity in the context of society:
Masks can be thought of as one’s
social class, character or personality type.
The more organized a society is, the
more mask-wearing is required, as visible emotion has no place in it. (I wonder
if this applies more to where and when he lived, rather than t being a
universal truth?)
To quote him:
“The mask is protection against
revelation…Only the primitive & the poet have the possibility to reveal
their emotions and the truth in their own faces. The emotions are of an
antisocial nature in an organized society, attributed to various forms of
insanity Only the safest forms are permitted. The mask of perpetual happiness
is the most common – sorrow is encouraged at sickness and funerals only”
Compare his piece with Florine
Stetthemier’s - both of a Jewish background; both moving in intellectual
circles of New York. These are the parties they would have known: colourful
individuals deep in conversation. Stettheimer has a naïve and feminine air, a
clear fondness for her company. Steinberg seems more detached; represents the
various personalities by the style of drawing, the line-work, and the colours.
There was an interest in analysis of
the self that first appeared in psychology in the XX.c, which then inspired
arts. Deconstruction into the most basic elements, then re-assembling them. In
cubism, the 3Dimensional image is represented in the 2Dimensional by the way of
the re-assembled elements, which are the different points of view.
Sterne and Steinberg were both
inspired by this movement. Steinberg abstracted forms further into calligraphic
gestures - perhaps to poke at the individual speech styles, or the general
vitality of their personalities. A typical example of his playful and witty
flair.
Henry Moore’s inspiration here were
sculptures from Ancient Egypt, Africa and Mexico exhibited in the British
Museum. These were considered "primitive art". Moore called them “the
common world language of forms.” Or to quote Picasso: “A head is a matter of
eyes, nose, mouth, which can be distributed in any way you like.”
Here is an example of what a mask
might reveal: mental illness, existential fear, the secrets of the inner
self... Francis Bacon’s Study for portrait II, after the life mask
of William Blake.
Despite the title, it looks more like
a death mask, which could have been Inspired by some of Blake’s works as well
as a plaster cast of his face.
Abstract landscapes to show individual
experiences as well as the connection of concepts. Sometimes philosophical
jokes- for example, how through struggles reaches either the stars or dung pit.
I like to compare these drawings
as they all evoke the same emotion – the smallness of
a human being compared to the vastness of the
landscape around him. There is so much empty space – creating
the feeling of disconnect.
Compare Steinberg and Sterne’s works
here – how similar. Inspired by each-other, or by the many shared experiences?
There is a monumentality in both "landscapes" and non-descript
machines to make the viewer feel insignificant. On Steinberg's picture, the
human figures are in fact tiny comparatively. The style (abstract but not
completely; bareness) in all three cases alienating as well.
Some examples in the development in
representing abstract modern cityscapes... John Marin was inspired by the
dynamism and vitality of New York City, which he expressed through
watercolour to capture the spontaneity and energy; and the atmospheric
effect. Both Abraham Walkowitz and Mark Tobey’s works show a calligraphic
quality.
It is good to have a look at Sterne’s
work as a point of reference, knowing how closely her experiences matched with
Steinberg’s.
Paul Klee’s geometrical patterns
resembling a woven rug or children’s drawing, compared to Jean Dubuffet’s
art brut piece.
The image Steinberg is best known
for: the View of the World from 9th Avenue. Although at first it
might seem to mock the self-centred view of New Yorkers, there is
a deeper message: one's own mental image of the world based on
their individual experience. What is intimately known is 3D, detailed, and
realistic, whereas distance reduces everything
else into abstract form and mere concept.
Lastly, cats. To quote Steinberg:
"Now there is something more clever and more philosophical about the
cat. The cat probably represents the artist who is also not involved
completely in the lives that surrounds him...”
Another quote from him: "The cat
is trying to open the door on the hinges side. I laugh, then I see I make
the same mistake, with people, ideas, and doors too."
Related artists:
Horace Pippin was a self-taught African American artist at the turn of the 19th century. After losing dexterity in his right arm while fighting in World War I, Pippin began painting to strengthen his muscles—often using his left hand to guide his right. Pippin’s paintings portrayed the deep injustices of slavery and segregation embedded in America’s past (and present). He was critically well-received during his lifetime—a rare and difficult achievement for a black artist in the early 20th century.
Florine
Stettheimer (August 19,
1871 – May 11, 1944) was
an American modernist painter, feminist, theatrical
designer, poet, and salonnière.
Stettheimer developed a feminine,
individual, delicate painting style depicting her friends, family, and
experiences in New York City. From a wealthy German-Jewish
family in New York.
The Cathedrals of Art is a fantastical portrait of three of the city’s major museums—the Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Whitney Museum of American Art—and abounds with depictions of real-life art critics, dealers, and even the artist herself, on the lower left, seeming to welcome viewers into the spectacular scene.
Art is Spelled with a Capital A
And capital also backs it
Ignorance also makes it sway
The chief thing is to make it pay
In a quite dizzying way
Hurrah–hurrah–
Hedda Sterne (August 4, 1910 – April 8, 2011)
Sterne described her extensive body of
work, exhibited early on with the Surrealists and later with the Abstract
Expressionists, as a process of exploration and discovery.
Life Magazine featured a profile
of the couple in their August 27, 1951 issue, titled "Steinberg and
Sterne: Romanian-Born Cartoonist and Artist-Wife Ambush the World with Pen and
Paintbrush”
Josef Herman (3 January 1911 – 19 February 2000), was
a highly regarded Polish-British painter. He was part of a generation of
central and eastern European Jewish refugee artists who emigrated to escape
Nazi persecution.
Pablo Picasso (1881-1973)
“A head is a matter of eyes, nose,
mouth, which can be distributed in any way you like.”
Henry Spencer Moore (30 July 1898
– 31 August 1986)
Inspired by primitive art: 'the common
world language of forms'
Russell Patterson (December 26, 1893 – March 17, 1977)
American cartoonist, illustrator and scenic
designer. Patterson's art deco magazine illustrations helped develop
and promote the idea of the 1920s and 1930s fashion style known as the flapper.
George Grosz /
Georg Ehrenfried Groß (July 26, 1893 –
July 6, 1959) was a German artist known especially for his caricatural drawings
and paintings of Berlin life in the 1920s. He was a prominent member
of the Berlin Dada and New Objectivity groups during
the Weimar Republic. He emigrated to the United States in 1933.