Saul Steinberg's New Yorker cover of January 17, 1959, is one that needs to be not only seen but read. The central figure on the impossibly grandiose monument depicted is Prosperity unfettered, while the surrounding paired figures reveal so very much about the contradictions inherent in America that Steinberg observed through his immigrant's eyes. The striking original art is currently on view at the Society of Illustrators, part of the essential show "Drawn From The New Yorker: A Centennial Celebration" curated by Liza Donnelly.
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| Saul Steinberg Original art The New Yorker, January 17, 1959 |
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| Saul Steinberg The New Yorker, January 17, 1959 |
Meanwhile, the breadth of Steinberg's wildly inventive drawings inside the magazine is represented by a single image from 1963.
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| Saul Steinberg The New Yorker, February 23, 1963, p. 24 |
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| Saul Steinberg The New Yorker, February 23, 1963, p. 24 |
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| With drawings by Saul Steinberg and Robert Day |
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It's not a part of the exhibition, of course, but on the printed page Steinberg's linear flight of artistic fancy is set opposite a wash drawing by Robert Day seeking humor in the not-so-humdrum daily business commute.
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| "A stockholder, maybe." Robert Day The New Yorker, February 23, 1963, p. 24 |
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