Untitled

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Artist Saul Steinberg (American, 1914–1999)

Title Untitled

Date 1984–1989

Medium Graphite on paper

Dimensions Image: 14 1/4 x 23 1/4 in. (36.2 x 59.1 cm)
Sheet: 17 7/8 x 23 7/8 in. (45.4 x 60.6 cm)
Framed (Exhibition Frame): 27 1/8 x 34 1/8 x 1 1/2 in. (68.9 x 86.7 x 3.8 cm)

Credit Line Gift of The Saul Steinberg Foundation, Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University

Accession Number 2019.112

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About this Work

This drawing is a study for the September 7, 1992, New Yorker cover. Along a road receding into the distance, six representative American figures (for better or worse) are depicted as sphinxes: Abraham Lincoln, a bald eagle, a majorette, a Native American stereotype, a cowboy, and a Ku Klux Klansman. Along the horizon stand two pyramids and five columns. The coffin—flying through the air—has a skull and crossbones symbol and a syringe balancing on top, possibly relating to the period’s panic about illegal drug use. For Steinberg, the sphinx represented the need for a personal interpretation of the truth.

Provenance
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Provenance research is ongoing for this and many other items in the Eskenazi Museum of Art permanent collection. For more information about the provenance of this artwork, please contact the department curator with specific questions.

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"Untitled | Collections Online." Collections Online. Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University, 2025. https://artmuseum.indiana.edu/collections-online/browse/object.php?number=2019.112