Saturday, March 21, 2020

Saul Steinberg: Derrière le Miroir No. 224, May 1977

Derrière le Miroir (DLM) is an art magazine that was published by Aimé Maeght between the years 1946 and 1982. Each issue presented a portfolio of an artist's work related to an exhibition at the Galerie Maeght, located on the Left Bank of the Seine. The May 1977 issue, #224, features the work of Saul Steinberg. One of the pages shown here from the signed limited edition's current listing on AbeBooks appeared as a cover for the New Yorker and another is a very close variant of a New Yorker cover.






Saul SteinbergDerrière Le Miroir No. 224, May 1977
AbeBooks Listing Accessed March 19, 2020

For some reason Steinberg took the trouble to affix a New Yorker copyright notice to the lower right corner of the cat and water pitcher original reproduced in DLM. Yet a comparison of the DLM print with the published magazine cover shows that the DLM art is not the same as the art used for the New Yorker cover; the two are close but very distinct variants.

Saul Steinberg
The New Yorker, August 25, 1975


The color words original also bears a New Yorker copyright notice, but here it is correct. This DLM print is made from the very same art as the 1972 New Yorker cover.

Saul Steinberg
The New Yorker, October 21, 1972


Note:  Derrière le Miroir translates as Behind the Mirror. But we all know you didn't need me to tell you what derrière meant.

Saul Steinberg appeared in a total of seven numbers of Derrière le Miroir. The first from 1953 is a double issue and the last from 1980 was shared with artist Richard Lindner. Here's the rundown:

#53-54, 1953:

#157, 1966:


#192, June 1971:

#205, September 1973:

#224, May 1977:

#241 (with Richard Lindner), October 1980:


At the time of this posting, the signed limited edition DLM issue #224 of May 1977 was still available for sale on AbeBooks. The price is 650 Euros.



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