CINCINNATI.-This summer, visitors to the Cincinnati Art Museum will enjoy the work of one of America’s most famous artists, Saul Steinberg - most popularly known for his art in The New Yorker. The Art Museum unveiled the recently conserved 75-foot long Mural of Cincinnati, originally created by Steinberg in 1947 for the Terrace Plaza Hotel of Cincinnati. Visitors will further explore Steinberg’s comic and artistic genius through the nationally recognized retrospective exhibition, Saul Steinberg: Illuminations, opening July 21. Both the mural and retrospective will remain on view through Sept. 23. Although Steinberg is best known for his work in The New Yorker, this exhibition also brings to light the prolific and diverse creative activity for which Steinberg was celebrated since he arrived in New York in 1942.

While studying architecture in Milan, Steinberg gained early fame as a cartoonist. In the United States, he became a propagandist, illustrator, fabric and card designer, muralist, fashion and advertising artist, stage designer and exhibiting artist. In the 1960s, he began to concentrate his efforts on gallery art and The New Yorker.
Among Steinberg’s notable works is the 75-foot long Mural of Cincinna ti created for the Terrace Plaza Hotel of Cincinnati, one of only seven murals Steinberg created during his entire career. After an extensive conservation treatment made possible by a Save America’s Treasures federal grant and generous donors, the Art Museum will exhibit Mural of Cincinnati for the first time in 25 years. It depicts Cincinnati’s landmarks and people in Steinberg’s graphically witty style and presents visitors with a large-scale display of his inventive use of line.

Commissioned by the company Thomas Emery’s Sons in 1947, Mural of Cincinnati graced the interior of the original Terrace Plaza Hotel of Cincinnati along with Joan Miró’s Mural for the Terrace Plaza Hotel and Alexander Calder’s Twenty Leaves and an Apple mobile - both currently on view at the Art Museum. Recognized nationally as the first example of the new International Style of architecture in Cincinnati, the Terrace Plaza Hotel was an innovative building created by the forward thinking architecture firm Skidmore, Owings and Merrill.

“The innovative design and art of the Terrace Plaza Hotel helped put Cincinnati on the map in the 1940s,” said Stephen Bonadies, chief conservator. “It’s a rare treat for Cincinnatians to see all three of the hotel’s treasured works of art on view at the same time.”

Later this summer, visitors will continue to experience the magic of Steinberg’s art through Saul Steinberg: Illuminations. This retrospective exhibition showcases more than 100 drawings, collages and sculptural assemblages displaying Steinberg’s amusing and insightful perspective of the world around him. This exhibition is the first review of his entire career, spanning the 1930s to the 1990s, including both his work for fine art galleries and some of his world-famous illustrations produced for publication.

“Steinberg’s art helps us better understand our time and culture with a dose of humor,” said Aaron Betsky, director of the Cincinnati Art Museum. “The exquisitely detailed mural and the retrospective exhibition complement each other well and are sure to please visitors of all ages.”

Saul Steinberg: Illuminations is organized by the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center at Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, New York, with support from the Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation. Presenting sponsors for Saul Steinberg: Illuminations and the display of Mural of Cincinnati are Macy’s and Fifth Third Bank. Youth and Family Programs Sponsor are Frisch’s Restaurants. Supporting Sponsors are the Western & Southern Financial Fund, Formica Corporation, Messer Construction Co. and AIA Cincinnati Bettman Fund. Conservation of Mural of Cincinnati was made possible by Save America’s Treasures through a partnership between the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Park Service, Department of the Interior, with special thanks to Senator Mike DeWine. Additional support from the H.B., E.W. and F.R. Luther Charitable Foundation, Fifth Third Bank and Narley L. Haley, Co-Trustees, The Getty Foundation and Macy’s.