Christie's New York is offering two works by Saul Steinberg in its October 4-5 sale. The first, View of Florida, is the one I'll discuss:
Sale 2469 Lot 101
Christie's Interiors
4 - 5 October 2011
New York, Rockefeller Plaza
Estimate $3,000 - $5,000
October 4, 2011: Price Realized: $8,750
signed and dated 'Steinberg 1966' (lower right)
Saul Steinberg (AMERICAN, 1914-1999)
View of Florida
There, do you see Florida? This collage shows a nondescript nighttime landscape with the white lines of a road, a lone hill or mountain, and clouds. It could be Florida, I guess, but it could just as easily be the American West. There is an art deco phonograph record on the upper left and a disembodied record label on the lower right. The record's label has the words "Rainbow and Pyramid" and both labels have a picture of each.
The drawing is dated October 23, 1965. Steinberg may have used black backgrounds in other Florida compositions around this time. Here's a witty New Yorker cover from January with a dark background and an unambiguous depiction of Florida:
Saul Steinberg, The New Yorker, January 16, 1965
Now that's definitely Florida! Steinberg was including phonograph records in other works this year as well. Here's another New Yorker cover from 1965 with the record album motif. Note that the record label here, like View of Florida, has a drawing of a pyramid:
Saul Steinberg, The New Yorker, March 20, 1965
For me, then, the problem with View of Florida is that Steinberg in October of 1965 had already made and published works about the Florida landscape and about phonograph records, and they were overall far more interesting than this particular composition. In fact, looking again at View of Florida after these two excellent magazine covers, I feel a little sensory-deprivation!
Here are the two auction listings:
Saul Steinberg (AMERICAN, 1914-1999)
View of Florida
Sale 2469 Lot 100
Christie's Interiors
4 - 5 October 2011
New York, Rockefeller Plaza
Christie's Interiors
4 - 5 October 2011
New York, Rockefeller Plaza
Estimate $5,000 - $7,000
October 4, 2011: Price Realized: $18,750
signed and dated 'New York Steinberg 1965 October 23' (upper left)
collage--ink, pastel, watercolor and paper on paper
22¾ x 29¼ in. (57.8 x 74.3 cm.)
Executed in 1965.
Provenancecollage--ink, pastel, watercolor and paper on paper
22¾ x 29¼ in. (57.8 x 74.3 cm.)
Executed in 1965.
with Sidney Janis Gallery, New York.
with Galería Ynquanzo, Madrid.
with Galería Ynquanzo, Madrid.
Saleroom Notice
Please note this lot will now be offered not subject to a reserve.
Please note that the following additional exhibition information to the printed catalogue: New York, Sidney Janis Gallery, Saul Steinberg. An exhibition of recent work, 29 November-24 December 1966, cat.no. 63.
Brussels, Musée de l'Art Moderne and Rotterdam, Museum Boymans van Beuningen, 1967.
Please note that the following additional exhibition information to the printed catalogue: New York, Sidney Janis Gallery, Saul Steinberg. An exhibition of recent work, 29 November-24 December 1966, cat.no. 63.
Brussels, Musée de l'Art Moderne and Rotterdam, Museum Boymans van Beuningen, 1967.
Pre-Lot Text
PROPERTY FROM THE ESTATE OF ERNST BEYELER SOLD TO BENEFIT THE ACQUISITION AND EXHIBITION PROGRAMME OF THE FOUNDATION BEYELER
Exhibited
New York, Whitney Museum of American Art, A decade of American drawings 1955-1965, 1965, cat.no. 94.
New York, Sidney Janis Gallery, Saul Steinberg: An Exhibition of Recent Work, 29 November-24 December 1966, cat.no. 63.
Brussels, Musée de l'Art Moderne, Steinberg: 'Les Américains' Aquarelles, Dessins et Collages 1955-1967, 1967, cat.no. 14. This exhibition travelled to Rotterdam, Museum Boymans-van Beuningen.
Saint-Paul de Vence, Fondation Maeght,l'Art vivant aux Etats-Unis, 1970.
London, Crane Kalman Gallery, Essence of Humour, October-November 1997.
New York, Sidney Janis Gallery, Saul Steinberg: An Exhibition of Recent Work, 29 November-24 December 1966, cat.no. 63.
Brussels, Musée de l'Art Moderne, Steinberg: 'Les Américains' Aquarelles, Dessins et Collages 1955-1967, 1967, cat.no. 14. This exhibition travelled to Rotterdam, Museum Boymans-van Beuningen.
Saint-Paul de Vence, Fondation Maeght,l'Art vivant aux Etats-Unis, 1970.
London, Crane Kalman Gallery, Essence of Humour, October-November 1997.
Saul Steinberg (AMERICAN, 1914-1999)
Le Lloyd's Still Life
Sale 2469 Lot 101
Christie's Interiors
4 - 5 October 2011
New York, Rockefeller Plaza
Estimate $3,000 - $5,000
October 4, 2011: Price Realized: $8,750
signed and dated 'Steinberg 1966' (lower right)
collage--pencil, ink, paper labels and colored crayon on paper
19½ x 25½ in. (49.6 x 64.8 cm.)
Executed in 1966.
Provenance19½ x 25½ in. (49.6 x 64.8 cm.)
Executed in 1966.
with Sidney Janis Gallery, New York.
with David Settles Gallery, Houston.
with David Settles Gallery, Houston.
Saleroom Notice
Please note this lot will now be offered not subject to a reserve.
Pre-Lot Text
PROPERTY FROM THE ESTATE OF ERNST BEYELER SOLD TO BENEFIT THE ACQUISITION AND EXHIBITION PROGRAMME OF THE FOUNDATION BEYELER
Exhibited
Cologne, Kölnischer Kunstverein, 1974-75, cat.no. 22 (travelling exhibition to Stuttgart, Hannover and Graz).
Basel, Galerie Beyeler, Stilleben im 20. Jahrhundert, October 1978-February 1979, cat.no. 102.
Basel, Galerie Beyeler, Stilleben im 20. Jahrhundert, October 1978-February 1979, cat.no. 102.
Note: My most recent post on Saul Steinberg is here.
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