Millimeter Towers in a Lost Space. The Vision of Saul Steinberg

Abstract

Saul Steinberg, one of the most innovative artists of the 20th century, revolutionized the world of illustration, becoming an indisputable reference in modern graphic narration.

This cartoonist and architect was born in 1914 in Râmnicu Sărat (Romania). In 1933 he began his life’s journey, moving to fascist Italy to enroll in the Faculty of Architecture of the Royal Polytechnic of Milan, earning a doctorate in architecture in 1940. During these years he began to publish his drawings in magazines such as Bertoldo. In 1941 Saul Steinberg began a difficult flight to the United States of America, where he would take up his final residence. In 1942, The New Yorker magazine began to publish his drawings, starting a collaboration that would last until the end of the artist’s life in 1999.

The aim of the paper I am presenting is to relate Saul Steinberg’s critical vision with the work of two emblematic European artists in 18th and early 19th century: Giovanni Battista Piranesi and Francisco de Goya. Three artists who, beyond their formal innovation, have bequeathed us a graphic heritage capable of narrating time and anticipating future eras.