SAUL STEINBERG (1914-1999) STEINBERG / GALERIE MAEGHT. Two posters. 1977. Sizes vary. Maeght Editeur-Arte, Paris. Condition varies, generally A / A-. Each from an edition of 150. Paper. Born in Romania, Steinberg moved to Milan to study architecture when he was 19, and then immigrated to New York in 1941 after The New Yorker sponsored his entry into the U.S. He soon became a prolific cartoonist for the magazine, creating almost 90 covers and over 1200 drawings for it over the course of 60 years. An outstanding draughtsman, he humorously criticized the American lifestyle in the periodical, and his knack for the absurd pervaded his other artwork as well. These two posters, printed and exhibited by Maeght in 1977, exemplify Steinberg's whimsical plays on dimension, line and texture (with fanciful gold accents), and the influence of Cubism as well as his own architectural studies are apparent. Aimé Maeght, French art collector, dealer and printer, established his printing company, Arte, in 1932. Encouraged by Pierre Bonnard and Henri Matisse, Aimé opened his renowned Galerie Maeght in Cannes in 1936 (then Paris in 1946), exhibiting works by artists such as Chagall, Duchamp, Miro, Calder and Steinberg with the help of his wife, Margueritte. His son Adrien also shared in his interests, creating his own printing company in 1948, Maeght Editions, and in 1964, a gallery representing a new generation of artists. Now, the Maeght family runs the first private museum in France to specialize in Contemporary art, as well as galleries in Paris and Barcelona.
