Art director and graphic designer Paul Rand (1914-1996) is remembered for creating memorable logos for prominent corporations. As a friend of New Yorker artist Saul Steinberg (1914-1999), he was the recipient in 1961 of a preliminary cover design for that magazine. The original drawing was sold at auction five years ago at a sale of pieces from the designer's estate by Wright Auctions.
Rand's Steinberg cover study for The New Yorker is clearly unfinished; the suited male figure with hat and cane leaning over to smell or admire the flowers at close range is only pencilled in. Some flowers are inked and colored. By his final published version, Steinberg was to reverse this figure, making him face left rather than right. He expanded the field of fantastical flowers and added fanciful flying insects above the figure for balance. All the color goes to nature, none to the observer. The preliminary art was estimated at $5,000 to $7,000. It sold for $5,313 with the premium.
Saul Steinberg Wright Auctions, September 13, 2018 |
Saul Steinberg Preliminary art The New Yorker, September 9, 1961 |
Saul Steinberg The New Yorker, September 9, 1961 |
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