Steinberg’s graduating class at the Liceul Matei Basarab, May 1932. Steinberg is at the extreme left, standing with one foot on a step. Saul Steinberg Papers, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.Steinberg’s diploma from the Liceul Matei Basarab, June 1932. Politecnico di Milano – Archivi Storici, Archivio Storico di Ateneo.
Fall 1932, enrolls in the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters (i.e., the Humanities division) at the University of Bucharest. Takes courses in philosophy, psychology, and logic; gets acceptable grades but rarely attends classes because of rampant anti-Semitism—“there was an atmosphere of brutality.”
Transcript from Steinberg’s year at the University of Bucharest, 1932-33. Archives of the University of Bucharest.
1933
September, applies for admission to the university’s Faculty of Architecture, but is rejected, probably because the still unofficial Jewish quota had been filled.
November, departs for Milan and enrolls in the Regio Politecnico to study architecture. Friends from Bucharest, Mikhail Perlmutter and Bruno Leventer, are fellow students, as is Aldo Buzzi, who becomes a lifelong friend.
Campus of the Regio Politecnico, Milan, in the 1930s. Politecnico di Milano – Archivi Storici, Archivio Storico di Ateneo.
Steinberg’s identity card, issued by the city of Milan, January 1934. Politecnico di Milano – Archivi Storici, Archivio Storico di Ateneo.
Steinberg with Bruno Leventer, his Bucharest friend and fellow Politecnico student, Milan, c. 1934-36. Saul Steinberg Papers, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.
Returns to Bucharest for summer vacations through 1937.
Postcard sent to Aldo Buzzi from Bucharest, August 21, 1937. The Saul Steinberg Foundation.Postcard sent to Aldo Buzzi from Bucharest, August 21, 1937. The Saul Steinberg Foundation.Steinberg and his mother, Rosa, Bucharest, 1930s. Collection of Daniela Roman.
1936
To supplement the limited financial support he receives from his parents, begins working as a cartoonist for Bertoldo, a twice-weekly humor newspaper; first cartoon published October 27. He soon becomes one of the paper’s most popular and recognizable artists. The remunerative Bertoldo work begins to interfere with his Politecnico studies.
“Arte pura,” Bertoldo, August 27, 1937. “I’m telling you, madame, for my watercolors I use eau de Cologne.”“Mobili ultramoderni” (“Ultramodern Furniture”), Bertoldo, November 16, 1937. “This Novecento armchair is super comfortable. You can lie under it and be like a king.”“Panorami di Steinberg,” Bertoldo, February 11, 1938.Steinberg in Milan, 1930s. Saul Steinberg Papers, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.
1937
Steinberg at his drawing table in his room above the Bar Il Grillo, Milan, c. 1937. Saul Steinberg Papers, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.
Meets Ada Cassola Ongari (1908-1997), his first love. They remain together throughout ST’s years in Italy. Although they never resume their relationship after World War II, they stay in touch; ST regularly sends her money and eventually contributes to the cost of her nursing home.
Steinberg with Ada Ongari, c. 1937-38. Saul Steinberg Papers, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.Steinberg with Ada Ongari, c. 1937-38. Saul Steinberg Papers, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.
1938
Spring, leaves Bertoldo for its rival, Settebello, where he is a member of the editorial board. First cartoon published on April 23.
September, the first of the Mussolini regime’s racial laws promulgated, ordering the expulsion of foreign Jews; an exception is later made for university students, who can remain until their degrees are completed. ST also can no longer work for Settebello; his last cartoon there is published on September 10. By November, Jews are banned from most professions.
Cartoon published in Settebello, September 3, 1938. “With this perfect telescope, I see Europe, my city, my house, and through the window myself looking at the world through the telescope while speaking with you; but I don’t hear what I’m saying.”
1939
January, having taken only one of 17 scheduled exams at the Politecnico since beginning to work for Bertoldo and then Settebello, has to catch up in order to remain in Italy.
Perspective rendering of an interior, c. 1939-40. Gouache on board, 11 5/8 x 7 ¾ in. Angelini Collection. Probably made for a Politecnico examination.Top: reproduction of a 1940 Steinberg drawing of a modern interior. 4 ½ x 8 in., mounted on board. Bottom: design of an interior-exterior with a Hans Arp painting and Bruno Munari’s Macchina inutile, 1940. Pencil, ink, and gouache on board, 11 5/8 x 8 ½ in. Both drawings made for a Politenico examination. Angelini Collection.
To compensate for his loss of cartooning income, friends lend him money or find small jobs for him in graphic design and advertising, his contributions always anonymous or reworked and published under the name of another artist.
Steinberg’s drawing for “Dynamin il Super Shell” advertisement. Saul Steinberg Papers, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.Steinberg’s drawing adapted and signed by Erberto Carboni for Dynamin ad published in La Stampa, June 24, 1939.Steinberg’s drawing adapted and signed by Erberto Carboni for Dynamin ad published in La Stampa, August 5, 1939.Drawing for unknown Studio Boggeri project, c. 1939-40. Archivio Boggeri, Milan.Decoration for bar storage unit (not a lampshade) for the firm Fontana Arte, 1941.
Painted decoration for a bar front in the Villa Sacerdotti, Rapallo (Liguria), 1941. Gouache, 45 x 52 in. Private collection.Steinberg’s reduced copy of his Rapallo painting, made while staying in the studio of Luciano Pozzo and Aldo Buzzi. Gouache, 20 x 20 in. Inscribed “Steinberg 1941/Via Annunziata 7.” Collection of Giò Pozzo.
Late in the year, first effort to find a home outside Italy. Aid comes from ST’s uncle Harry Steinberg in New York, as well as Harry’s children, especially his daughter Henrietta and her husband, Harold Danson, along with other US relatives. Also instrumental is Cesar Civita, whom ST knew in Milan. Civita, formerly director of periodicals for Mondadori (publisher of Settebello) had fled Italy in 1938 and within a year was established in New York as an illustrator’s agent.
