orig. Saul Jacobson
born June 15, 1914, Râmnicu S 0103; rat, Rom.
died May 12, 1999, New York, N.Y., U.S.
Romanian-born U.S. cartoonist and illustrator.
He studied architecture in Milan, meanwhile publishing cartoons in Italian magazines. Settling in New York City in 1942, he worked as a freelance artist, illustrator, and cartoonist, mainly for The New Yorker . His extraordinarily original and instantly recognizable works are often surrealistic or whimsically nightmarish visions of contemporary America and frequently employ odd versions of pop-culture icons. His subject matter ranges from the whimsical (e.g., a wicker chair overtaken by its curlicues) to the satirical (sinister, overgrown gadgets) to the philosophical (a tiny figure perched on a giant question mark balanced at the edge of an abyss).
Saul Steinberg, photograph by Arnold Newman, 1951.
© Arnold Newman