Over the past few days, a Facebook friend who's a cartoonist posted three Christmas-themed Saul Steinberg illustrations I've never seen before:
What a talent!
I just learned that Steinberg was Romanian, and had been living in Italy in the 1930s. He left after Mussolini came to power. Having finished his degree in 1940, he could no longer stay in Italy (even if he wanted to), but also could not get a U.S. visa. Through the intervention of connected people and after traumatic delay and imprisonment in Italy, he was eventually admitted to the Dominican Republic and waited there until almost July 1942 before being allowed into the U.S.
As always, the details of how Steinberg was able to come to the U.S. make me shiver to think of an alternate world without him and his work, and that in turn reminds me of all of the people who died because they couldn't escape fascism as he did. (Many examples are given in Ken Burns's The U.S. and the Holocaust.)
Neither of these thoughts were what I intended when I posted these three drawings today. But you never know what you'll find when you look into someone's life story even a little bit.
The Saul Steinberg Foundation website looks like it's well worth a substantial visit.
2 comments:
Many thanks for these lovely Christmas pictures, and your thoughts, so sadly relevant nowadays. I'm looking at the pictures on that SSF website, which are superb. I like good art, and Steinberg is someone who I had not heard of before, so thanks again. Wishes for a peaceful 2023🧡
Let's hope for peace in 2023 and beyond.
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