Mask

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Artist Saul Steinberg (American, 1914–1999)

Title Mask

Date 1965–1973

Medium Colored pencil, crayon, and black ink and rubber stamp on cut and torn brown paper

Dimensions Image: 13 3/8 × 17 5/8 in. (34 × 44.8 cm)
Sheet: 13 3/8 × 17 5/8 in. (34 × 44.8 cm)
Framed: 25 5/8 × 23 1/8 × 1 in. (65.1 × 58.7 × 2.5 cm)

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

Accession Number 2019.98

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About this Work

The twentieth century marked a shift in the idealization of female beauty with the popularization of new mass media such as cinema and television. Steinberg saw such beauty as a mask that women wore to hide their true selves. The rubber stamp printed onto the figure’s cheek, suggesting an artificial “beauty mark,” seems to be an implicit criticism of such a commercialized, mediatized system of beauty. It functions as a manufacturer’s label, implying that the woman’s desirability is fabricated.

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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"Mask | Collections Online." Collections Online. Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University, 2025. https://artmuseum.indiana.edu/collections-online/browse/object.php?number=2019.98