Saul Steinberg: A Biography Part 44

Just as he sometimes thought Sigrid was there: ST to AB, December 12, 1997.

Ann Beattie gave several small dinners: Ann Beattie, conversation, September 30, 2007. She remembered that ST "smoked a little gra.s.s" and enjoyed it.

What he enjoyed most was the pleasure: PC, e-mail December 6, 2010.

"Strange how the letters": ST to IF, July 3, 1998, original in IF's possession.

"I took it as something crazy": IF, interview, October 12, 2007.

Next he asked Prudence: PC, mss. note, 2011.

"tired of waiting for sanity to return": ST to HS, "Monday morning" [May 20, 1955], AAA.

Sometimes it made him wake up: HS, interviews and conversations, SeptemberNovember 2007.

By early December 1998 he feared: PC, e-mail, December 15, 2010. All information about ST's ECT therapy is from this correspondence.

Just before they left, he wrote: ST to Henri Cartier-Bresson, February 28, 1999, YCAL, Box 73.

"many degrees of perfection": ST to IF, March, 1999, SSF. ST wrote a similar message on a postcard to AB, March 10, 1999, SSF.

"Lost memory of part of life": ST, daily diary, March 8, 1999, YCAL, Box 82.

"It is my opinion": Dr. Frank T. Miller, M.D., to ST, April 11, 1999, YCAL, Box 71.

During the last week of April 1999: ST's last note in the daily diary for 1999, YCAL, Box 82, is dated April 27, when he wrote: "Sign proxy bldg 102; call Teppler."

"And then I went to the hospital": PC, e-mail, January 7, 2011.

CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN: THE ANNUS MIRABILIS OF 1999.

"The annus mirabilis of 1999": ST to AB, January 24, 1999, SSF.

While he was in the hospital: ST had named PC his health-care proxy sometime before his last hospitalization, when doc.u.ments permitting her access to his medical records were drawn up by his lawyer, John Silberman. According to Crowther in mss. comments, December 6, 2010, where ST wrote "sign proxy" on April 27, 1999, YCAL, Box 82, he was referring to a duplicate required by the hospital. Information about ST's last days is from PC, e-mail December 6, 2010; IF, interview, October 12, 2007; HS, interviews and conversations, 20078; Vita Peterson, interview, March 7, 2009; and Claire Nivola, interviews and conversations, 200810.

She also recorded: All ST's remarks this paragraph are from PC's datebook, May 8, 1999, sent in an e-mail, December 6, 2010. Information about the various languages in which ST sometimes spoke is from interviews with the persons cited in the text.

they had never forged a friends.h.i.+p: HS verified this throughout our interviews and conversations and repeated it emphatically on December 11, 2008, after she had had a stroke. My impression was that she thought it was important for me to know this, and so I honor her intentions here.

"I don't think he's breathing": Ibid.

"I am dying": HS, interview, December 11, 2008. HS also told this to Claire Nivola, interview, July 2, 2008. PC, e-mail, December 6, 2010, questioned HS's memory, saying that ST had also said this to her; "Does anyone know Saul's last words? I don't believe so."

EPILOGUE: THE UNCERTAINTY OF HIS PLACE.

His choice of media, his use of humor: Unsigned obituary, "Saul Steinberg," East Hampton Star, May 20, 1999, copy in YCAL, Box 88, "Obituaries" Folder.

Steinberg made his last will and testament: The last will and testament of Saul Steinberg, April 16, 1999, submitted by Attorney Lynn Saidenberg of the firm of John Silberman a.s.sociates PC, acting on behalf of Prudence Crowther and John Silberman as executors of the estate of Saul Steinberg, admitted to probate by the Surrogate's Court of New York County by decree dated June 23, 1999; copy in SSF. It replaced an earlier will dated November 6, 1996, a copy of which is in YCAL, Box 70.

He was the only person privy: PC, e-mail, December 15, 2010.

"a non-profit organization": The Saul Steinberg Foundation mission statement, http://www/saulsteinbergfoundation.org/. John Silberman and John Hollander left the board in 2008 and 2010, respectively, and were replaced by Megan Fox Kelley and Jeffrey Hoffeld. Sheila Schwartz was the original executive director and was serving in that capacity in 2012.

The university's Beinecke Rare Book and Ma.n.u.script Library: ST specified that besides the drawings 15 x 17 in. or smaller, his archives consisted of all his letters, bills, photographs, rubber stamps, notebooks, alb.u.ms, ma.n.u.scripts (whether by him or by others), plus all papers other than works of art, black-and-white cartoons created for TNY, and portraits or photographs of him by other persons. Yale received the papers, but all copyrights were retained by SSF. The archives were to be available only to scholars and researchers until 2009, after which the general public was permitted access to them. The university was not allowed to sell any drawings within the archives after 2009.

Besides the generous financial bequests: In the final 1999 will, ST made several changes: he gave $50,000 each to Aldo Buzzi, Josephine b.u.t.tles, Anton van Dalen, IF, Gordon Pulis, Norman and Cella Manea, Lawrence Danson, Karen van Lengen, Maryam Javaheri Eng, and Mary Frank. Prudence Crowther received $100,000. Provision was made for Ada Ongari to receive $12,000 per annum for life if she survived him, but as she predeceased him, that money remained with his estate.

He left the library: A note in Sheila Schwartz's handwriting, appended to SSF's copy of the article "The Artist as Collector," by Andre Emmerich, Art in America no. 2 (Summer 1958), notes on p. 26 that ST's collection of "a large group of turn-of-the-century doll-like bisque figurines," a "black magic figure of wrought iron from Brazil, and "a small clay jar representing the ancient Mexican Rain-G.o.d Tlaloc," are now [i.e., after his death] in possession of Anton van Dalen.

the memorial service on November 1, 1999: The ceremony was held in the Charles Engelhard Court in the American Wing at 11:00 a.m. I am grateful to Sol and Judith Steinberg Ba.s.sow for copies of the invitation and program. In ST to AB, April 11, 1988, ST wrote of his pleasure in having the postcards enlarged: "(to a meter across)...and when you look at them you enter into that world, shortly before our birth-which is a more attractive and comprehensible era."

Hedda Sterne chose not to attend: In an interview, October 11, 2007, HS said she chose not to attend "for a variety of reasons." After saying that she did not want to be a distraction or to draw attention to herself, she paused a long time before saying it would have been too emotionally difficult and she feared she would break down in public.

Dr. Torsten Wiesel introduced the six speakers: Copies in SSF. A handwritten note on the IF transcript indicates that transcriptions were made by PC.

"Each of us wished": Saul Bellow, unt.i.tled remarks, reprinted as "Saul Steinberg," Republic of Letters, no. 7, November 7, 1999; four unt.i.tled pages of Bellow's remarks are in the James Atlas papers, University of Chicago Library, Special Collections Research Center, Box 4, folder t.i.tled "Marbles," with portions of what became the article in The Republic of Letters. I am grateful to James Atlas for permission to read them, and to Julia Gardner, Reference and instruction librarian, for her prompt attention to my request.

"the most biting satire": Leo Steinberg, "Remembering Saul," November 1, 1999.

"We carry a curse": Norman Manea, "Memorial: Saul Steinberg."

"visionary intellectual satirist": John Hollander, unt.i.tled remarks, later incorporated into "Saul Steinberg, 19141999," read at the American Academy of Arts dinner meeting, November 10, 1999, published as "Memorial Tribute to Saul Steinberg," Proceedings of the American Academy of Arts and Letters no. 50, 2nd series (2000): 1016.

Mary Frank came next: Mary Frank, interview, January 25, 2009; quotations taken from her unt.i.tled remarks transcribed from a tape by PC, SSF.

"a marvel in nature": IF, "Eulogy," reprinted as "Eulogy for Saul Steinberg," McSweeney's no. 6 (2001): 2932. HS's remark about "reality" is also on Tape 4, September 26, 2005, "Conversations with Claire Nivola," and was repeated throughout HS's interviews with DB.

"the greatest artist to be a.s.sociated": Adam Gopnik, unt.i.tled essay to accompany "Sketchbook by Saul Steinberg," cover and pp. 5457, TNY, May 24, 1999.

The Italian newspaper: La Repubblica, May 14, 1999, copy in YCAL, Box 88, "Obituaries" folder. One of the articles, "Quando era inamorato di Gadda," was about Steinberg's particular enjoyment of Gadda's fictions because he wrote in the Milanese dialect, which for ST was "the language of love." In ST to AB, April 11, 1988, ST described the pleasure of reading Gadda's Milanese dialect: "I understand it better than I would have expected, as long as I read it out loud."

In France, Liberation also: "Culture: 'Steinberg coupe sa ligne de vie'; 'le dessinateur et mort mercredi a New York'; 'il faudrait inventer un cenotaphe special pour Saul Steinberg,' " Liberation, May 16 and 17, 1999; unsigned obituary, "Saul Steinberg," Le Monde, May 18, 1999. Copies of both in YCAL, Box 88, "Obituaries" folder.

Hilton Kramer praised Steinberg: Hilton Kramer, "Farewell, Saul Steinberg, a Mordant Comic Artist," New York Observer, May 23, 1999. Sheila Schwartz provided the example of H. W. Janson's History of Art (New York: Abrams, 1991), where ST is not in the index until the sixth edition and even then is discussed only briefly in an introductory section, "Looking at Art," where a 1960 TNY drawing is used along with three other cartoons by pure cartoonists to make a general point about the creative process; his work is not considered in the actual history of art text that begins in the next chapter. See S:I, p. 20 and n. 10, for further examples.

"epic doodler": Sarah Boxer, "Saul Steinberg, Epic Doodler, Dies at 84," New York Times, May 13, 1999, pp. 1, B10, copy in YCAL, Box 88, "Obituaries" folder.

"in-between status": Michael Kimmelman, "Art in Review: Saul Steinberg," New York Times, October 22, 1999; in conjunction with exhibitions at Pace Wildenstein Gallery and Adam Baumgold Fine Art Gallery.

"He was neither cartoonist nor painter": Franklin Foer (with Angie Cannon), "A Great View of the World: Saying Goodbye to Saul Steinberg," U.S. News & World Report, May 24, 1999, p. 65; copy provided by Judith Steinberg Ba.s.sow.

"the man who did that poster": Among the many obituaries that discuss "that poster" are Robert Hughes, "Fine, Indecipherable Flourishes," Time, May 24, 1999; Elaine Woo, "Saul Steinberg: Artist Best Known for Covers and Cartoons in The New Yorker," Los Angeles Times, May 14, 1999; "Saul Steinberg," The Art Newspaper: In Memoriam, June 1999, copy in SSF archives; Martin Plimmer, "Obituary: Saul Steinberg," Independent (London), May 18, 1999; Foer with Cannon, "A Great View of the World."

"the most iconic image": Peter Plagens, "Have Pen, Will Amuse," Newsweek, May 24, 1999, copy in YCAL, Box 88, "Obituaries" folder.

"Steinberg's most famous composition": Hughes, "Saul Steinberg," in Nothing If Not Critical, p. 259; Jean Lemaire, "An Appreciation," Loria Collection, p. 10.

The question proliferated: The exhibition itinerary listed in the book is as follows: Morgan Library and Museum, New York, November 30, 2006March 4, 2007; Smithsonian American Art Museum, Was.h.i.+ngton, D.C., April 6June 24, 2007; Cincinnati Art Museum, Cincinnati, Ohio, July 30September 20, 2007; Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center, Va.s.sar College, Poughkeepsie, New York, November 2, 2007February 24, 2008. The publication (cited throughout this book) is Joel Smith, Saul Steinberg: Illuminations (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2007).

"fundamental questions": Front flap copy, S:I. Smith wrote the jacket copy, which he discusses more fully in the introduction, p. 20.

"Seven years after his death": Charles Simic, "Steinberg's Bazaar," S:I, p. 17.

"I don't quite belong": J. R. Cochran, "He Seldom Lays Eggs," New Haven Register, July 1973.

ILl.u.s.tRATION credits

IN TEXT.

2.1 Courtesy of Saul Steinberg Papers, Yale Collection of American Literature, Beinecke Rare Book and Ma.n.u.script Library.

2.2 Courtesy of Saul Steinberg Papers, Yale Collection of American Literature, Beinecke Rare Book and Ma.n.u.script Library.

5.1 Courtesy of Saul Steinberg Papers, Yale Collection of American Literature, Beinecke Rare Book and Ma.n.u.script Library.

5.2 Courtesy of Saul Steinberg Papers, Yale Collection of American Literature, Beinecke Rare Book and Ma.n.u.script Library.

5.3 Courtesy of Saul Steinberg Papers, Yale Collection of American Literature, Beinecke Rare Book and Ma.n.u.script Library.

9.1 Photo by George Platt Lynes, courtesy of the Russell Lynes Estate.

9.2 Courtesy of Saul Steinberg Papers, Yale Collection of American Literature, Beinecke Rare Book and Ma.n.u.script Library.

10.1 Courtesy of Saul Steinberg Papers, Yale Collection of American Literature, Beinecke Rare Book and Ma.n.u.script Library.

10.2 Courtesy of Saul Steinberg Papers, Yale Collection of American Literature, Beinecke Rare Book and Ma.n.u.script Library.

10.3 Courtesy of Claire Nivola.

11.1 Hedda Sterne, Unt.i.tled [Circus], 1945. Oil on canvas, 39 x 34 in. Hedda Sterne Foundation, New York.

11.2 Hedda Sterne, New York, NY, 1955. Oil on canvas, 36 x 60 in. Whitney Museum of American Art, gift of anonymous donor, Hedda Sterne Foundation, New York.

11.3 Hedda Sterne, Antro II. Oil on canvas, 31 x 51 in. Private collection, Hedda Sterne Foundation, New York.

12.1 Courtesy of Saul Steinberg Papers, Yale Collection of American Literature, Beinecke Rare Book and Ma.n.u.script Library.

13.1 Courtesy of Saul Steinberg Papers, Yale Collection of American Literature, Beinecke Rare Book and Ma.n.u.script Library.

15.1 Courtesy of Saul Steinberg Papers, Yale Collection of American Literature, Beinecke Rare Book and Ma.n.u.script Library.

16.1 Courtesy of Anton van Dalen.

16.2 Courtesy of Saul Steinberg Papers, Yale Collection of American Literature, Beinecke Rare Book and Ma.n.u.script Library.

19.1 Courtesy of Saul Steinberg Papers, Yale Collection of American Literature, Beinecke Rare Book and Ma.n.u.script Library.

23.1 Theodore Brauner, Hedda, c. 196365, The Estate of Theodore Brauner / Courtesy of the Janos Gat Gallery, New York, and the Hedda Sterne Foundation, New York.

25.1 Courtesy of Saul Steinberg Papers, Yale Collection of American Literature, Beinecke Rare Book and Ma.n.u.script Library.

27.1 Courtesy of Saul Steinberg Papers, Yale Collection of American Literature, Beinecke Rare Book and Ma.n.u.script Library.

30.1 Courtesy of Priscilla Morgan.

31.1 Courtesy of Saul Steinberg Papers, Yale Collection of American Literature, Beinecke Rare Book and Ma.n.u.script Library.

33.1 Courtesy of Claire Nivola.

33.2 Courtesy of Anton van Dalen.

35.1 Courtesy of Anton van Dalen.

35.2 Courtesy of Anton van Dalen.

38.1 Estate of Evelyn Hofer.

40.1 Courtesy of Saul Steinberg Papers, Yale Collection of American Literature, Beinecke Rare Book and Ma.n.u.script Library.

41.1 Courtesy of Saul Steinberg Papers, Yale Collection of American Literature, Beinecke Rare Book and Ma.n.u.script Library.

41.2 Courtesy of Saul Steinberg Papers, Yale Collection of American Literature, Beinecke Rare Book and Ma.n.u.script Library.

43.1 Courtesy of Anton van Dalen.

44.1 Courtesy of Priscilla Morgan.

44.2 Courtesy of Claire Nivola.

45.1 Courtesy of Anton van Dalen.