Fingerprints

The fingerprint, too, was a graphic device awaiting Steinberg’s reinvention. He turned his own thumb- and fingerprints into what Harold Rosenberg called “organic signatures.” Having observed that a fingerprint has the oval shape of a human face, he produced fingerprint portraits which, though they lack physiognomic features, become the essence of identity.

<em>Passport Photo</em>, 1953. Fingerprint on paper. Originally published in Steinberg, <em>The Passport</em>, 1954.
Passport Photo, 1953. Fingerprint on paper. Originally published in Steinberg, The Passport, 1954.
<em>Parade 2</em>, c. 1950-51. Ink, fingerprint, and rubber stamps on paper, 23 x 14 in. National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC; Gift of The Saul Steinberg Foundation.
Parade 2, c. 1950-51. Ink, fingerprint, and rubber stamps on paper, 23 x 14 in. National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC; Gift of The Saul Steinberg Foundation.

When affixed to a faux passport, replete with counterfeit seals and stamps, the concoction “takes over the function of government.”22 When applied to a group portrait, fingerprints may offer an ironic comment on individuality or corporate conformity. Finally, they become yet another graphic means of rendering anything, whether clouds in the sky or birds stepping daintily on a graph-paper grid.

<em>Passport</em>, 1953. Mixed media on paper, 14 ¾ x 11 ¾ in. Collection of Leon and Michaela Constantiner, New York.
Passport, 1953. Mixed media on paper, 14 ¾ x 11 ¾ in. Collection of Leon and Michaela Constantiner, New York.
<em>Group Photo</em>, 1953. Ink, fingerprints, and rubber stamp on paper, 14 x 11 in. Collection of Richard and Ronay Menschel.
Group Photo, 1953. Ink, fingerprints, and rubber stamp on paper, 14 x 11 in. Collection of Richard and Ronay Menschel.
<em>Untitled</em>, 1951. Fingerprints and ink on paper, 11 x 8 ½ in. Collection of Daniela Roman.
Untitled, 1951. Fingerprints and ink on paper, 11 x 8 ½ in. Collection of Daniela Roman.
<em>Fingerprint Landscape</em>, 1950. Ink and fingerprints on paper, 14 ½ x 11 1/8 in. Saul Steinberg Papers, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.
Fingerprint Landscape, 1950. Ink and fingerprints on paper, 14 ½ x 11 1/8 in. Saul Steinberg Papers, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.

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