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Untitled (North Africa)

Artist Saul Steinberg (American, 1914–1999)
Title Untitled (North Africa)
Date Ca. 1985
Medium Crayon and colored pencil with corrugated cardboard and foil collage on cut brown paper bag
Dimensions Image: 14 3/4 x 10 1/8 in. (37.47 x 25.72 cm)
Sheet: 14 3/4 x 10 1/8 in. (37.47 x 25.72 cm)
Other (depth when open): 5 1/8 in. (13.02 cm)
Mount (Work assembled on mount): 29 1/4 in. (74.3 cm)
Credit Line Gift of The Saul Steinberg Foundation, Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University
Accession Number 2019.114

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About this Work

While best known for his nearly ninety covers for The New Yorker magazine, Saul Steinberg also created works in different media. In the 1960s, he began using paper bags to create three-dimensional masks. Although playful, these works suggest a more serious message that everyone wears a disguise, whether real or metaphorical. Terrorist activities in the US, Middle East, and elsewhere in the 1970s and 80s encouraged Steinberg to create militaristic costumes, paper weaponry, and a series of satirical soldier masks. A Jewish émigré who fled Europe in 1942, Steinberg understood the dangers of totalitarian regimes.


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 (North Africa) | Collections Online." Collections Online. Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University, 2025. https://artmuseum.indiana.edu/collections-online/browse/object.php?number=2019.114