Sections

1940

Through Civita’s agency, ST drawings are published for the first time in US periodicals— Harper’s Bazaar (March 15), LIFE (September 27), and Town & Country (October)—as well as the Brazilian magazine Sombra.

“Persiflage from Paris,” Harper’s Bazaar, March 15, 1940, pp. 60.
“Persiflage from Paris,” Harper’s Bazaar, March 15, 1940, pp. 60.
Two pages from “Persiflage from Paris,” Harper’s Bazaar, March 15, 1940, pp. 61, 60.
Two pages from “Persiflage from Paris,” Harper’s Bazaar, March 15, 1940, pp. 61, 60.
Two pages from “Speaking of Pictures: Life in the Guatavir Line,” LIFE, May 27, 1940.
Two pages from “Speaking of Pictures: Life in the Guatavir Line,” LIFE, May 27, 1940.
Drawing accompanying Oliver Wainright, “The Shot Heard Round the World,” Town & Country (October 1940).
Drawing accompanying Oliver Wainright, “The Shot Heard Round the World,” Town & Country (October 1940).
Cover and two inside drawings published in the Brazilian magazine Sombra (December 1940-January 1941).
Cover of the Brazilian magazine Sombra (December 1940-January 1941)

Cover and two inside drawings published in the Brazilian magazine Sombra (December 1940-January 1941).

Two inside drawings published in the Brazilian magazine Sombra (December 1940-January 1941)
Two inside drawings published in the Brazilian magazine Sombra (December 1940-January 1941)

March, passes his thesis exam at the Politecnico and receives his doctorate in architecture the following month. The diploma is made out to “Saul Steinberg…of the Hebrew race.”

Steinberg’s diploma from the Politecnico, dated April 16, 1940, and inscribed to “Saul Steinberg…di razza ebraica”—“of the Hebrew race.” Saul Steinberg Papers, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.
Steinberg’s diploma from the Politecnico, dated April 16, 1940, and inscribed to “Saul Steinberg…di razza ebraica”—“of the Hebrew race.” Saul Steinberg Papers, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.

Graduation ends his legal residence in Italy and he must find refuge elsewhere. His family and Civita fail to get him a US visa. Henrietta Danson enlists the aid of her boss, newspaper publisher Cornelius Vanderbilt, Jr. Along with Civita, they approach the Dominican Republic Resettlement Association.

Letter from Cesar Civita to Henrietta Danson concerning his correspondence with Rebecca Rehyer of the Dominican Republic Resettlement Association, c. June 1940. Collection of Lawrence Danson.
Letter from Cesar Civita to Henrietta Danson concerning his correspondence with Rebecca Rehyer of the Dominican Republic Resettlement Association, c. June 1940. Collection of Lawrence Danson.
Letter from Cornelius Vanderbilt, Jr. to the Minister of the Dominican Republic in Washington, June 1, 1940. The Saul Steinberg Foundation. (Page 1)
Letter from Cornelius Vanderbilt, Jr. to the Minister of the Dominican Republic in Washington, June 1, 1940. The Saul Steinberg Foundation. (Page 1)
Letter from Cornelius Vanderbilt, Jr. to the Minister of the Dominican Republic in Washington, June 1, 1940. The Saul Steinberg Foundation. (Page 2)
Letter from Cornelius Vanderbilt, Jr. to the Minister of the Dominican Republic in Washington, June 1, 1940. The Saul Steinberg Foundation. (Page 2)

July, receives a visa for the Dominican Republic and, from his family and Civita, a ticket on a boat leaving Lisbon for Ciudad Trujillo (now Santo Domingo) via New York. ST must obtain Spanish and Portuguese transit visas to get to Lisbon and a US transit visa to pass through New York.

September 6-7, with all but the US transit visa in hand, flies to Lisbon, but the Portuguese authorities stop him at the airport and force him to return to Milan. In May, his application for a tourist visa had been rejected because Portugal did not want an influx of “undesirable” Romanian Jews and he had been placed on an unwanted list by the secret police. The new transit visa had been issued in error. ST never knew why he had been turned back, but he always remembered September 6 as “my most dramatic disaster—my black Friday.”

Pages from Steinberg’s Romanian passport. Left, transit visa dated August 29, 1940, from the Portuguese Consul in Milan; right, transit visa dated September 3, 1940, from Spanish Consul in Rome. Saul Steinberg Papers, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.
Pages from Steinberg’s Romanian passport. Left, transit visa dated August 29, 1940, from the Portuguese Consul in Milan; right, transit visa dated September 3, 1940, from Spanish Consul in Rome. Saul Steinberg Papers, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.

November, Bertoldo and Settebello resume publishing his drawings, but without signature; also publishes a few works in other Italian newspapers and magazines.

A Bertoldo cartoon by Steinberg published without signature. “Disegno con battuta” (“Gag drawing”), Bertoldo, March 8, 1941. “That’s my husband, he has an inferiority complex.”
A Bertoldo cartoon by Steinberg published without signature. “Disegno con battuta” (“Gag drawing”), Bertoldo, March 8, 1941. “That’s my husband, he has an inferiority complex.”

December, the Romanian legation in Rome refuses to renew his passport. He is now officially stateless and subject to arrest and internment; sometimes lives in his apartment but also hides in the homes of friends. Spends time with Ada, Buzzi, and other friends; reads, visits galleries, and goes to the movies.

First pages of Steinberg’s expired Romanian passport. The punch holes spelling “Romania” in the inner margin mark the passport’s cancellation. Saul Steinberg Papers, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.
First pages of Steinberg’s expired Romanian passport. The punch holes spelling “Romania” in the inner margin mark the passport’s cancellation. Saul Steinberg Papers, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.

1941

January 16, issued an Affidavit of Travel from the American consul in Milan, which will enable him to pass through New York on his way to the Dominican Republic.

Affidavit of travel from the US Consulate in Milan, January 16, 1941, enabling Steinberg to pass through the United States in transit to Santo Domingo with his expired Romanian passport. Saul Steinberg Papers, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.
Affidavit of travel from the US Consulate in Milan, January 16, 1941, enabling Steinberg to pass through the United States in transit to Santo Domingo with his expired Romanian passport. Saul Steinberg Papers, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.

April, arrested by the police and sent to San Vittore prison in Milan. Four days later is sent by train to the Villa Tonelli in Tortoreto (Teramo) on the Adriatic Sea, now repurposed as an internment camp; one of many “campi di concentramento” set up by Mussolini to hold illegals and undesirables. Arrives there on May 2.

Sketch of the San Vittore prison in Milan, April 1941, from a 1940-43 journal. Saul Steinberg Papers, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.
Sketch of the San Vittore prison in Milan, April 1941, from a 1940-43 journal. Saul Steinberg Papers, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.
Sketch of the prisoners’ dormitory in the internment camp at Tortoreto, May 1941, from a 1940-43 journal. Saul Steinberg Papers, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.
Sketch of the prisoners’ dormitory in the internment camp at Tortoreto, May 1941, from a 1940-43 journal. Saul Steinberg Papers, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.

Spends his time drawing, painting, writing and receiving letters, and handling the paperwork to obtain new visas for Spain and Portugal and revalidate his American transit visa. A reservation has been made for him on a ship leaving Lisbon on June 20.

Sketch of the entrance to the Villa Tonelli, the internment camp at Tortoreto, May 1941, from a 1940-43 journal. Saul Steinberg Papers, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.
Sketch of the entrance to the Villa Tonelli, the internment camp at Tortoreto, May 1941, from a 1940-43 journal. Saul Steinberg Papers, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.
Sketch of Steinberg’s space in the prisoners’ dormitory at the Villa Tonelli, May 1941, from a 1940-43 journal. Saul Steinberg Papers, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.
Sketch of Steinberg’s space in the prisoners’ dormitory at the Villa Tonelli, May 1941, from a 1940-43 journal. Saul Steinberg Papers, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.

June 8, released from Tortoreto; his fellow prisoners arrange a departure party.

Farewell souvenir to Steinberg from his fellow prisoners at Tortoreto, June 6, 1941. Drawing of the Villa Tonelli by Walter Frankl. Saul Steinberg Papers, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.

Farewell souvenir to Steinberg from his fellow prisoners at Tortoreto, June 6, 1941. Drawing of the Villa Tonelli by Walter Frankl. Saul Steinberg Papers, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.
Farewell souvenir to Steinberg from his fellow prisoners at Tortoreto, June 6, 1941. Drawing of the Villa Tonelli by Walter Frankl. Saul Steinberg Papers, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.

June 12-16, in Rome and Milan to secure the missing visas.

Steinberg’s room at the Albergo Pomezia, Rome, June 12-16, 1941, from a 1940-43 journal. Saul Steinberg Papers, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.
Steinberg’s room at the Albergo Pomezia, Rome, June 12-16, 1941, from a 1940-43 journal. Saul Steinberg Papers, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.

June 16, flies to Lisbon via Barcelona and Madrid; June 20, boards the SS Excalibur for New York.

Steinberg’s room at the Hotel Tivoli, Lisbon, June 16-20, 1941, from a 1940-43 journal. Saul Steinberg Papers, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.
Steinberg’s room at the Hotel Tivoli, Lisbon, June 16-20, 1941, from a 1940-43 journal. Saul Steinberg Papers, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.

June 30, the Excalibur docks in New York, but ST, holding only a transit visa, must stay on Ellis Island; is visited there by his New York family.

Manifest of alien passengers for the SS Excalibur, June 21, 1941. Left half (top), right half (bottom). Steinberg is entered at line 7.
Manifest of alien passengers for the SS Excalibur, June 21, 1941. Left half (top), right half (bottom). Steinberg is entered at line 7.

July 5, leaves by ship for Ciudad Trujillo; arrives on July 13 after a stopover in San Juan.

From Ciudad Trujillo, sends regular packets of drawings to his agent, Cesar Civita, in New York. First drawing in The New Yorker published October 25, 1941. Other drawings published in American journals, especially Mademoiselle, the newspaper PM, as well as in the Dominican Republic newspaper La Nación and other Dominican venues.

“But it is half man and half horse,” The New Yorker, October 25, 1941, Steinberg’s first drawing in the magazine.
“But it is half man and half horse,” The New Yorker, October 25, 1941, Steinberg’s first drawing in the magazine.
“Mademoiselle’s Christmas Sleighride,” Mademoiselle (December 1941).
“Mademoiselle’s Christmas Sleighride,” Mademoiselle (December 1941).
El pianista, Santo Domingo, 1941. Ink and gouache on paper, 12 ¾ x 9 ½ in. Fundación Granell, Santiago de Compostela, Spain.
El pianista, Santo Domingo, 1941. Ink and gouache on paper, 12 ¾ x 9 ½ in. Fundación Granell, Santiago de Compostela, Spain.
Drawing for theater board, Teatro Julia, Santo Domingo, 1941. Watercolor and ink on paper, 23 ½ x 17 7/8 in. Fundación Granell, Santiago de Compostela, Spain.
Drawing for theater board, Teatro Julia, Santo Domingo, 1941. Watercolor and ink on paper, 23 ½ x 17 7/8 in. Fundación Granell, Santiago de Compostela, Spain.

Regular correspondence with his parents in Romania, Aldo Buzzi and Ada Ongari in Milan, and his cousins in New York, Henrietta and Harold Danson. The latter send him clothing, shoes, and other necessities.

Steinberg’s letter to his New York cousin, Henrietta Danson, August 25, 1941. Collection of Lawrence Danson.
Steinberg’s letter to his New York cousin, Henrietta Danson, August 25, 1941. Collection of Lawrence Danson.

His family, Cornelius Vanderbilt, Jr., and Civita begin the process of obtaining a US visa for him. Ik Shuman, executive editor of The New Yorker, writes a testimonial letter on his behalf. By this time, Cesar Civita has emigrated to Buenos Aires, leaving the day-to-day business of the agency in the hands of his brother Victor and the office manager, Gertrude Einstein. It is Einstein who becomes ST’s lifeline during his time in Ciudad Trujillo.

1942

With the US entry into World War II, begins to draw anti-Fascist political cartoons. His first such work is published in the liberal New York newspaper PM in January; he becomes a regular contributor (through March 1943). By spring, his cartoons are appearing in Liberty and American Mercury.

Anti-Fascist cartoon in PM, February 8, 1942.
Anti-Fascist cartoon in PM, February 8, 1942.
Anti-Fascist cartoon in PM, February 17, 1943.
Anti-Fascist cartoon in PM, February 17, 1943.
Anti-Fascist cartoon in American Mercury, April 1942.
Anti-Fascist cartoon in American Mercury, April 1942.
Anti-Fascist cartoon in Liberty, August 8, 1942.
Anti-Fascist cartoon in Liberty, August 8, 1942.

February 17, included in “Cartoons Against the Axis,” a traveling exhibition organized by the Art Students League, which ends at The Metropolitan Museum of Art as “Cartoons of Today”; awarded an honorable mention. Exhibits three paintings in a juried exhibition in Ciudad Trujillo.

May 14, on behalf of ST, Civita signs a contract with The New Yorker, giving the magazine right of first refusal for all his artwork, save that commissioned by other magazines.

May 15, receives his US visa, but air transport is difficult to find.

June 28, flies to Miami; the next day boards a bus for New York, arriving July 1.

July 1, signs a contract with Civita, giving the agent 40% of his publication proceeds.

Lives in rooming houses on West 11th Street and then at the Hotel Lafayette on University Place (through April 1943). Supports himself with income from drawings published in The New Yorker and other magazines (Fortune, Mademoiselle, House Beautiful). Begins to accept assignments from advertising agencies.

August 24, is classified 1-A (available for immediate military service) by the Selective Service Board.

November, on the recommendation of Harold Ross, editor of The New Yorker, becomes consultant for the Office of War Information, Graphics Division, in New York.

Spends New Year’s Eve with Costantino Nivola, a fellow immigrant from Milan who becomes one of his closest friends. As art director of Interiors, Nivola introduces him to designers, architects, and other artists; Alexander Calder joins them. Calder and ST soon become good friends.

1943

January, travels by train, via Chicago, to Los Angeles. While there, receives notice to report to the draft board for induction; returns to New York via a southwestern route.

Page from Steinberg’s cross-country sketchbook, January 1943. Saul Steinberg Papers, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.
Page from Steinberg’s cross-country sketchbook, January 1943. Saul Steinberg Papers, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.
Page from Steinberg’s cross-country sketchbook, January 1943. Saul Steinberg Papers, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.
Page from Steinberg’s cross-country sketchbook, January 1943. Saul Steinberg Papers, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.

February 7, meets fellow Romanian émigré artist Hedda Sterne, who had admired his published drawings and invites him for tea.

Hedda Sterne, c. 1930. Collection of Daniela Roman.
Hedda Sterne, c. 1930. Collection of Daniela Roman.

Several months earlier, Harold Ross had enlisted the aid of James Forrestal, Secretary of the Navy, and General William (“Wild Bill”) Donovan, head of the fledgling Office of Strategic Services, to find a military position for ST that would suit his talents and enable him to continue to supply The New Yorker with drawings.

February 19-20, thanks to Donovan’s intervention and over the initial objections of Naval personnel in Washington (“this applicant has about everything disqualifying him that could exist”), ST receives a commission as an ensign in the US Naval Reserve and US citizenship.

Steinberg’s certificate of naturalization dated February 19, 1943. Saul Steinberg Papers, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.
Steinberg’s certificate of naturalization dated February 19, 1943. Saul Steinberg Papers, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.

March 2, reports to Chief of Naval Operations, Office of Naval Intelligence, in Washington.

Washington DC 1943, 1988. Pencil and crayon on paper, 14 x 11 in. Saul Steinberg Papers, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.
Washington DC 1943, 1988. Pencil and crayon on paper, 14 x 11 in. Saul Steinberg Papers, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.

April 12-24, “Drawings in Color by Steinberg. Paintings by Nivola,” organized by Betty Parsons at the Wakefield Gallery, New York.

Exhibition announcement for the Steinberg/Nivola show at the Wakefield Gallery, New York, 1943.
Exhibition announcement for the Steinberg/Nivola show at the Wakefield Gallery, New York, 1943.
Strada Palas, 1942. Ink, pencil, and watercolor on paper, 14 7/8 x 21 ¾ in. The Saul Steinberg Foundation. One of the works in Steinberg’s 1943 show at the Wakefield Gallery.
Strada Palas, 1942. Ink, pencil, and watercolor on paper, 14 7/8 x 21 ¾ in. The Saul Steinberg Foundation. One of the works in Steinberg’s 1943 show at the Wakefield Gallery.

May, boards a troopship in San Francisco for transport to the Far East; June, arrives in Colombo, Ceylon, travels by train to Calcutta; July, flies to Kunming, China. Reports for duty in Happy Valley (Chungking), where he is assigned to the Sino-American Cooperative Organization (SACO), an intelligence arm of the Navy, officially a joint operation with the OSS.

Frame from a film made by SACO, Steinberg eating with chopsticks at SACO headquarters in Happy Valley, China, 1943
Frame from a film made by SACO, Steinberg eating with chopsticks at SACO headquarters in Happy Valley, China, 1943
Steinberg in China, 1943. Collection of Lawrence Danson.
Steinberg in China, 1943. Collection of Lawrence Danson.
Steinberg in China, 1943. The Saul Steinberg Foundation.
Steinberg in China, 1943. The Saul Steinberg Foundation.

His duties there remain uncertain; in an Officer Qualifications Questionnaire for the Navy, he describes them as “prepar[ing] background for future Psychological Warfare operations in China.” Off duty, he makes drawings of military life in China, which are sent via Navy courier to The New Yorker. “Fourteenth Air Force: China Theatre” is published as two portfolios in the magazine, January 15 and February 5, 1944; a third on March 24, 1945. Another drawing is used as the January 13, 1945 cover.

From “Fourteenth Air Force: China Theatre,” portfolio in The New Yorker, February 5, 1944.
From “Fourteenth Air Force: China Theatre,” portfolio in The New Yorker, February 5, 1944.
Cover of The New Yorker, January 13, 1945.
Cover of The New Yorker, January 13, 1945.
From a 1988 series of drawings reimagining his assignment in China. Ink, pencil, and crayon on paper, 14 x 11 in. Saul Steinberg Papers, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.
From a 1988 series of drawings reimagining his assignment in China. Ink, pencil, and crayon on paper, 14 x 11 in. Saul Steinberg Papers, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.
From a 1988 series of drawings reimagining his assignment in China. Pencil and crayon on paper, 11 x 15 in. Saul Steinberg Papers, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.
From a 1988 series of drawings reimagining his assignment in China. Pencil and crayon on paper, 11 x 15 in. Saul Steinberg Papers, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.

Early December, Donovan travels to Kunming, seeking to resolve conflicts between SACO and the OSS. Has ST reassigned to Morale Operations in Algiers, where the OSS has sole control.

December 19-January 1, ST flies to Algiers via Chabua, Agra, Karachi, Khartoum, and Cairo, arriving on January 1.

1944

January-May, travels between Algiers, Bari, and Naples with Morale Operations (OSS), as the Allied liberation of Italy moves northward.

Steinberg in southern Italy, 1944. Collection of Daniela Roman.
Steinberg in southern Italy, probably Pompeii, 1944. Collection of Daniela Roman.
Steinberg’s drawing of the OSS Morale Operations office, Algiers, from “Collection of Cartoons Produced by MO Artist Lt. (jg) Saul Steinberg.” NARA, Washington, DC, RG226, E99, Box 40, folder 6.
Steinberg’s drawing of the OSS Morale Operations office, Algiers, from “Collection of Cartoons Produced by MO Artist Lt. (jg) Saul Steinberg.” NARA, Washington, DC, RG226, E99, Box 40, folder 6.
Steinberg’s drawing of the OSS Morale Operations office, Naples, from “Collection of Cartoons Produced by MO Artist Lt. (jg) Saul Steinberg.” NARA, Washington, DC, RG226, E99, Box 40, folder 6.
Steinberg’s drawing of the OSS Morale Operations office, Naples, from “Collection of Cartoons Produced by MO Artist Lt. (jg) Saul Steinberg.” NARA, Washington, DC, RG226, E99, Box 40, folder 6.
Napoli, March 1944, 1988. Pencil and crayon on paper, 14 x 11 in. Saul Steinberg Papers, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.
Napoli, March 1944, 1988. Pencil and crayon on paper, 14 x 11 in. Saul Steinberg Papers, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.

June, Rome liberated. Morale Operations sets up an office there by early July, officially the 2677th Regiment OSS.

Steinberg’s drawing of the OSS Morale Operations office, Rome, from “Collection of Cartoons Produced by MO Artist Lt. (jg) Saul Steinberg.” NARA, Washington, DC, RG226, E99, Box 40, folder 6.
Steinberg’s drawing of the OSS Morale Operations office, Rome, from “Collection of Cartoons Produced by MO Artist Lt. (jg) Saul Steinberg.” NARA, Washington, DC, RG226, E99, Box 40, folder 6.

ST’s duties involve the preparation of pictorial propaganda, some of it dropped over Germany to imply a fictitious German resistance movement. According to an official OSS explanation: “When forging an enemy publication, a definite style is used, such as that of a certain cartoonist or a primitive and hasty style when the drawings are supposedly originated by underground movements using improvised means.” ST’s drawings were usually copied as linocuts by his colleague Barbara Podoski and then put into propaganda service.

Steinberg with his colleague Barbara Podoski in the OSS Morale Operations office, Rome, 1944. The Saul Steinberg Foundation.
Steinberg with his colleague Barbara Podoski in the OSS Morale Operations office, Rome, 1944. The Saul Steinberg Foundation.
Propaganda drawing with Hitler as a two-faced wolf, 1944. From a photostat in the Hermann Broch de Rothermann Papers, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.
Propaganda drawing with Hitler as a two-faced wolf, 1944. From a photostat in the Hermann Broch de Rothermann Papers, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.
Der Schuldige (The Guilty One), in the July 26, 1944 issue of <em>Das Neue Deutschland</em>, a fake Resistance newspaper produced by the OSS Morale Operations.
Der Schuldige (The Guilty One), in the July 26, 1944 issue of Das Neue Deutschland, a fake Resistance newspaper produced by the OSS Morale Operations.
Wie lange noch (How much longer?), no. 7. Along the right side, “Lesen und weitergeben” (“Read and pass on”). One of a series of postcards produced by the OSS and dropped over Germany.
Wie lange noch (How much longer?), no. 7. Along the right side, “Lesen und weitergeben” (“Read and pass on”). One of a series of postcards produced by the OSS and dropped over Germany.

While drawing in the style of an imagined German resistance artist, he is also sending drawings of military life to The New Yorker, where they are published as portfolios over the next year: “North Africa,” April 15 and 29, 1944; “Italy,” June 10, July 8 and 29, 1944; “India,” February 24 and April 28, 1945.

Promoted to lieutenant (jg).

From “North Africa,” portfolio in The New Yorker, April 29, 1944.
From “North Africa,” portfolio in The New Yorker, April 29, 1944.
From “Italy,” portfolio in The New Yorker, June 10, 1944.
From “Italy,” portfolio in The New Yorker, June 10, 1944.
From “India,” portfolio in The New Yorker, April 28, 1945.
From “India,” portfolio in The New Yorker, April 28, 1945.

September, ordered back to the OSS office in Washington. Before returning stateside, makes a short trip to Bucharest to visit his family (September 18-25)—the last time he sets foot in Romania.

Steinberg with his parents, sister, and brother-in-law, Bucharest, 1944. Saul Steinberg Papers, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.
Steinberg with his parents, sister, and brother-in-law, Bucharest, 1944. Saul Steinberg Papers, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.

October 4, arrives at the Naval air base in Patuxent, Maryland. Gets brief leave of absence. October 11, marries Hedda Sterne.

Travels between the OSS office in Washington and Naval Command in New York. In Washington, sometime before spring 1945, compiles a portfolio of Morale Operations work for OSS records and congressional oversight committees: “Collection of Cartoons Produced by MO Artist Lt. (jg) Saul Steinberg. Target – Germany…1941-1945.”.

Cover of “Collection of Cartoons Produced by MO Artist Lt. (jg) Saul Steinberg.” NARA, Washington, DC, RG226, E99, Box 40, folder 6.
Cover of “Collection of Cartoons Produced by MO Artist Lt. (jg) Saul Steinberg.” NARA, Washington, DC, RG226, E99, Box 40, folder 6.

In New York, lives with Hedda at 410 East 50th St.

Steinberg and Sterne in their East 50th Street apartment, 1944-45. The Hedda Sterne Foundation.
Steinberg and Sterne in their East 50th Street apartment, 1944-45. The Hedda Sterne Foundation.

November 16, signs new contract with the Civita agency, now with Victor Civita, his brother Cesar having left for Argentina; ST now receives 70% of earnings from the sale of drawings to magazines and newspapers. The contract excludes drawings for The New Yorker, with whom ST signs a separate contract on December 23.

1945

Meets artist Richard Lindner.

Designs first Christmas cards for The Museum of Modern Art, New York; continues to provide annual black-and-white line drawings for cards through 1951.

Christmas card for The Museum of Modern Art, 1945.
Christmas card for The Museum of Modern Art, 1945.
Christmas card for The Museum of Modern Art, 1949.
Christmas card for The Museum of Modern Art, 1949.

May, in his calendar page for May 1, records the death of Hitler. He is now based primarily in New York, working with the Training Literature Field Unit #1.

Page from Steinberg’s appointment book, May 1, 1945. Saul Steinberg Papers, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.
Page from Steinberg’s appointment book, May 1, 1945. Saul Steinberg Papers, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.

It is probably at this time that he provides drawings and witty captions for the OSS booklet China Theater: An Informal Notebook of Useful Information for Military Men in China; some drawings had appeared earlier in The New Yorker China portfolios.

Cover of China Theater: An Informal Notebook of Useful Information for Military Men in China. Produced by the Reproduction Branch of the OSS, probably 1945. The Saul Steinberg Foundation.
Cover of China Theater: An Informal Notebook of Useful Information for Military Men in China. Produced by the Reproduction Branch of the OSS, probably 1945. The Saul Steinberg Foundation.
Pp. 10-11 of China Theater: An Informal Notebook of Useful Information for Military Men in China. Produced by the Reproduction Branch of the OSS, probably 1945. The Saul Steinberg Foundation.
Pp. 10-11 of China Theater: An Informal Notebook of Useful Information for Military Men in China. Produced by the Reproduction Branch of the OSS, probably 1945. The Saul Steinberg Foundation.
Pp. 18-19 of China Theater: An Informal Notebook of Useful Information for Military Men in China. Produced by the Reproduction Branch of the OSS, probably 1945. The Saul Steinberg Foundation.
Pp. 18-19 of China Theater: An Informal Notebook of Useful Information for Military Men in China. Produced by the Reproduction Branch of the OSS, probably 1945. The Saul Steinberg Foundation.

June, publication of All in Line, the first of Steinberg’s compilations of drawings, covering the period 1941-45. A best-seller, it becomes a Book-of-the-Month Club selection.

November, promoted to full lieutenant. Renews contract with Civita, his earnings now raised to 75%. This is probably his last contract with Civita.

Steinberg and Sterne, late 1944-45. Photo by George Platt Lynes. © Estate of George Platt Lynes.
Steinberg and Sterne, late 1944-45. Photo by George Platt Lynes. © Estate of George Platt Lynes.

December, honorable release from active duty. Remains on inactive duty; must report overseas travel and addresses to the Naval Command.

1946

Frequent meetings in New York with a group of artists, designers, architects, and authors, many of them émigrés like himself, including Tino Nivola, Alexander Calder, Bernard Rudofsky, Leo Lionni, Marcel Breuer, and Le Corbusier. Through Richard Lindner, meets German émigré photographer Evelyn Hofer, who becomes a good friend and will photograph ST at regular intervals throughout his life.

Portrait of Bernard Rudofsky, c. 1944. Photostat, 11 ¾ x 8 ¼ in. The Bernard Rudofsky Estate, Vienna.
Portrait of Bernard Rudofsky, c. 1944. Photostat, 11 ¾ x 8 ¼ in. The Bernard Rudofsky Estate, Vienna.
Portrait of Alexander Calder, 1946. Ink on paper, 14 ½ x 11 ½ in. Calder Foundation, New York.
Portrait of Alexander Calder, 1946. Ink on paper, 14 ½ x 11 ½ in. Calder Foundation, New York.

Begins producing designs for fabrics and wallpapers (into the early 1950s). New Yorker drawings as well as drawings for other magazines continue, as does work for advertising agencies.

Views of Paris, 1946-49. Silk textile for Patterson Fabrics. The Saul Steinberg Foundation.
Views of Paris, 1946-49. Silk textile for Patterson Fabrics. The Saul Steinberg Foundation.
Drawing published in The New Yorker, April 6, 1946.
Drawing published in The New Yorker, April 6, 1946.
Drawing and collage accompanying the article “Soap Opera.” Fortune, March 1946.
Drawing and collage accompanying the article “Soap Opera.” Fortune, March 1946.
Advertisement for D’Orsay perfume, published in The New Yorker, May 4, 1946.
Advertisement for D’Orsay perfume, published in The New Yorker, May 4, 1946.

June, in Provincetown with Hedda.

September 10-December 8, 27 drawings in “Fourteen Americans” exhibition at The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Fellow exhibitors include Arshile Gorky, Robert Motherwell, Theodore Roszak, and Mark Tobey. A reduced version of the exhibition, with 10 Steinberg drawings, travels to Vassar College, the Society of the Four Arts in Palm Beach, the Cincinnati Modern Art Society, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. This tour represents the first national exposure of Steinberg’s gallery art.

July-December, based in Paris, also travels in England, Italy, and Germany. Aldo Buzzi visits him in Paris. Begins his friendship with photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson, who introduces him to Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir.

Sartre, 1946. Pencil on paper torn from sketchbook, 12 x 9 in. The Saul Steinberg Foundation.
Sartre, 1946. Pencil on paper torn from sketchbook, 12 x 9 in. The Saul Steinberg Foundation.
Aldo in Paris, 1946. Ballpoint pen on paper, 12 ½ x 9 ½ in. Collection of Marina Marchesi and Franco Salghetti-Drioli.
Aldo in Paris, 1946. Ballpoint pen on paper, 12 ½ x 9 ½ in. Collection of Marina Marchesi and Franco Salghetti-Drioli.

As a pictorial reporter for The New Yorker, goes to Nuremberg in August to cover the war crimes trials. After a brief stay, abandons the project.

October, in Berlin. Makes drawings of postwar military life that will appear in a New Yorker portfolio.

From the “Berlin” portfolio, The New Yorker, March 29, 1947.
From the “Berlin” portfolio, The New Yorker, March 29, 1947.

Returns to Paris; back in New York by Christmas. Rents a studio at 107 East 60th St.

1947

Acquires first camera.

Meets photographer Walker Evans, whose photographs of unheralded American scenes encourage ST’s own interest in small-town architecture and local American types.

Provides cover drawing for libretto and score for his friend Gian Carlo Menotti’s comic opera The Telephone, which had opened at the Heckscher Theater, New York, in February, with an ST backdrop.

Cover drawing for score of Gian Carlo Menotti’s comic opera, The Telephone, 1947.
Cover drawing for score of Gian Carlo Menotti’s comic opera, The Telephone, 1947.

April, goes to Mexico City to meet Hedda, who is traveling with Mexican artist Miguel Covarrubias and others.

May, goes to Cincinnati to see the new Terrace Plaza Hotel, where he has been commissioned to paint a mural for the Skyline Dining Room. Designed by Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill, the building is the first International Style hotel in the US. Other art commissions go to Joan Miró and Alexander Calder.

June-September, he and Hedda spend the summer in East Jamaica, Vermont; visited by Tino and Ruth Nivola and Henri Cartier-Bresson.

Steinberg in Vermont, 1947. Photo by Henri Cartier-Bresson. © Henri-Cartier Bresson/MAGNUM PHOTOS, courtesy Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson.
Steinberg in Vermont, 1947. Photo by Henri Cartier-Bresson. © Henri-Cartier Bresson/MAGNUM PHOTOS, courtesy Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson.

Ruth N[ivola]. East Jamaica, Vermont, August 1947. Ink on paper, 11 x 14 in. The Saul Steinberg Foundation.
Ruth N[ivola]. East Jamaica, Vermont, August 1947. Ink on paper, 11 x 14 in. Guild Hall, East Hampton, New York; Gift of The Saul Steinberg Foundation.
July, breaks vacation to go to New York and supervise the execution of a mural for the 7th floor of the Bonwit Teller department store, enlarged from his drawings. “I’m not executing it myself,” he tells Aldo Buzzi. “There’s an army of hooligans who crane their necks on the scaffolding, in this heat, copying it on the wall.” At some later point, the mural, which depicted equestrian scenes, is destroyed.

Drawing for mural at Bonwit Teller’s department store. The Obelisk Rider, 1947. Watercolor and ink on paper, 14 ½ x 23 in. Collection of Carol and Douglas Cohen.
Drawing for mural at Bonwit Teller’s department store. The Obelisk Rider, 1947. Watercolor and ink on paper, 14 ½ x 23 in. Collection of Carol and Douglas Cohen.

October-early December, working on Cincinnati mural. The huge oil-on-canvas panels of Cincinnati streets, architecture, and people are executed in the studio of his friend, LIFE photographer Gjon Mili.

1948

March-April, visits to Cincinnati to install mural at the Terrace Plaza Hotel.

Postcard, c. 1950, of the Skyline Room with Steinberg’s mural, Terrace Plaza Hotel, Cincinnati.
Postcard, c. 1950, of the Skyline Room with Steinberg’s mural, Terrace Plaza Hotel, Cincinnati.
One part of the mural of Cincinnati for the Terrace Plaza Hotel, as installed in the Cincinnati Art Museum, 2007.
One part of the mural of Cincinnati for the Terrace Plaza Hotel, as installed in the Cincinnati Art Museum, 2007.

Commissioned by industrial designer Henry Dreyfuss to provide murals for the bars in the “Four Aces,” four newly built ships of the American Export Lines. The design program places contemporary art by several artists throughout the ships.

April, sails to Paris to meet Hedda; they travel in France. April 22, receives an urgent telegram from Gian Carlo Menotti in London, asking ST to design the backdrop for the London production of The Telephone, opening in seven days. ST accepts.

Steinberg and Sterne in Paris, 1948. The Saul Steinberg Foundation.
Steinberg and Sterne in Paris, 1948. The Saul Steinberg Foundation.

May, sends roughs of the “Four Aces” drawings to Dreyfuss from Paris. In the end, there is no time to complete four different drawings, so the same drawing, photographically enlarged, is used on each of the ships.

Bar with Steinberg’s mural in one of the “Four Aces” ships of the American Export Lines, 1948.
Bar with Steinberg’s mural in one of the “Four Aces” ships of the American Export Lines, 1948.
Detail of the American Export Lines mural, 1948.
Detail of the American Export Lines mural, 1948.

June, with Hedda in Milan. July-August, ST and Hedda travel in Switzerland and Italy; visit Aldo Buzzi in Mantua, where he is constructing the set for Alberto Lattuada’s film Il Mulino del Po. After two weeks in Biarritz, ST and Hedda return to Paris.

Aldo Buzzi in Mantua, 1948. Photo by Steinberg. Buzzi was constructing the set for Alberto Lattuada’s film Il Mulino del Po. Saul Steinberg Papers, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.
Aldo Buzzi in Mantua, 1948. Photo by Steinberg. Buzzi was constructing the set for Alberto Lattuada’s film Il Mulino del Po. Saul Steinberg Papers, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.
Aldo Buzzi in Mantua, 1948. Photo by Steinberg. Collection of Marina Marchesi and Franco Salghetti-Drioli.
Aldo Buzzi in Mantua, 1948. Photo by Steinberg. Collection of Marina Marchesi and Franco Salghetti-Drioli.

October 6, arrives back in New York.

Steinberg and Sterne in their apartment on East 50th St., New York, c. 1948-50. The Hedda Sterne Foundation.
Steinberg and Sterne in their apartment on East 50th St., New York, c. 1948-50. The Hedda Sterne Foundation.

Late December, his parents, having gotten visas to leave Bucharest, arrive in Paris; they stay with Hedda’s brother, the conductor Edward Lindenberg. ST’s sister, Lica, her husband, Rica Roman, and their baby son cannot get permission to leave. ST helps support his parents and his sister’s family.

1949

Steinberg in Chinese child’s headgear, c. 1949. Photo by Bernard Rudofsky.
Steinberg in Chinese child’s headgear, c. 1949. Photo by Bernard Rudofsky.

February, rents studio at 38 West 59th St.

Spring, working on drawings for a mural of the city of Detroit for “An Exhibition for Modern Living,” a landmark design show at the Detroit Institute of Arts, and on proofs for The Art of Living, his second compilation of drawings.

June 21, sails to France to meet Hedda, who has been there for three months. Meets author Saul Bellow, start of an enduring friendship.

July-August, visits parents. ST and Hedda travel in Italy (Milan, Venice). August 27, they sail back to New York.

Fall, publication of The Art of Living.

September 11, opening of “An Exhibition for Modern Living,” where his 24 drawings are photographically enlarged and assembled as a mural.

Catalogue cover for “An Exhibition for Modern Living,” Detroit Institute of Arts, 1949.
Catalogue cover for “An Exhibition for Modern Living,” Detroit Institute of Arts, 1949.
One of Steinberg’s drawings for his mural of Detroit at “An Exhibition for Modern Living,” Detroit Institute of Arts, 1949. Ink over pencil on paper, 14 5/8 x 23 1/8 in. Detroit Institute of Arts; Gift of the J.L. Hudson Company.
One of Steinberg’s drawings for his mural of Detroit at “An Exhibition for Modern Living,” 1949. Ink over pencil on paper, 14 5/8 x 23 1/8 in. Detroit Institute of Arts; Gift of the J.L. Hudson Company.
One of Steinberg’s drawings for his mural of Detroit at “An Exhibition for Modern Living,” as reproduced in the catalogue, with color added.
One of Steinberg’s drawings for his mural of Detroit at “An Exhibition for Modern Living,” as reproduced in the catalogue, with color added.

By December, his parents have resettled in Nice, where he continues to help support them.

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