Accession Number
1983/1.220

Title
Portrait of R

Artist(s)
Saul Steinberg

Artist Nationality
American (North American)

Object Creation Date
1970

Medium & Support
screenprint on paper

Dimensions
19 15/16 in x 24 5/8 in (50.6 cm x 62.6 cm)

Credit Line
Gift of the Marvin Felheim Collection

Subject matter
In this modern genre scene, Steinberg combines a variety of styles and seemingly unrelated features. He mixes art deco components with images reminiscent of Egyptian hieroglyphics, and pseudo-calligraphy. In addition to Portrait of R, Steinberg also created Portrait of M , a line drawing of a woman's face with a very large nose, which was published in 1997.

Saul Steinberg was best known for his New Yorker covers and drawings. Steinberg's architectural background and experience with architectural drafting influenced his drawing style. Steinberg began publishing cartoons in Milan in the 1930s, and his work was regularly published in the New Yorker beginning in 1941. Although Steinberg's most memorable drawing View of the World from 9th Avenue was his perspective of an iconic New York city scene, he was also fond of depicting imagined and less recogonized places.
 

Physical Description
This print shows a line-drawing of a room with an oddly proportioned, stiffly posed women in the center of it. She wears a dress with red, green, yellow, and blue trim, high heeled shoes and a multi-colored hat. There are decorative tiles on the lower part of the wall, a black and white portrait hangs on the left side, and a colorful painting hangs on the center of the wall. Two small dogs, one black and one white, stand to the left of the woman. To the left of the dogs is a stand with a vase and plant.

Primary Object Classification
Print

Collection Area
Modern and Contemporary

Rights
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please visit http://umma.umich.edu/request-image for more information and to fill out the online Image Rights and Reproductions Request Form. Keywords
Art Deco
Canis familiaris (species)
Figures
Plants
Romanian (culture or style)
alphabets (symbols)
dogs
houseplants
interior
interiors
modern and contemporary art
portraits
tile
tile (materials)
vases
window
women (female humans)