Chapter two: a decidedly peculiar place

Romania, a half civilized: Marie, Grand Duchess of Russia, A Princess in Exile (New York: Viking, 1932), p. 32.

for him to be born there: Paul Cummings, “Saul Steinberg Interviews, March 27, 1973,” Archives of American Art Oral History Program, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20560, unpaginated transcript.

His parents celebrated June 14: Various sources supply different dates for the gradual adoption of the Gregorian calendar among the Catholic, Orthodox, and Greek Orthodox portions of Romania. When ST came to the United States, he celebrated with his closest friends on June 28, but he told everyone else the date was June 15. ST’s niece and nephew, Dana and Stéphane Roman, both believe the family celebrated on June 14, as did his wife, Hedda Sterne, but on June 28, 1994, he wrote that he was celebrating his eightieth birthday: “b. June 15, 1914 in the old style (Julian Calendar, changed to Gregorian-new style by adding 13 days. 15 + 13 = 28.” From spiral notebook, June 1994, YCAL, Box 95.

Cuza proclaimed the founding: Historical information comes from Mrs. Will Gordon, Roumania Yesterday and Today (London: Bodley Head, 1919), p. 62; Edward Behr, Kiss the Hand You Cannot Bite (New York: Villard, 1991), p. 35; and Barbara Jelavich, History of the Balkans (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983), vol. 2, p. 4.

forced emigration of Romanian Jews: Edward Mandell House and Charles Seymour, eds., What Really Happened at Paris: The Story of the Peace Conference, 1918–19, by American Delegates (New York: Scribner, 1921), p. 220.

served two terms: ST, diary entry in spiral notebook, April 23–July 5, 1991, n.d. but it follows May 19, YCAL, Box 75.

whose patronymic was never recorded: A note on Moritz Steinberg’s birth certificate, nr. 366/1877, issued by the Husi City Hall, states that his official name was Herscu Fridman. In a document entitled “Genealogy—Rotman” (the original married name of ST’s sister, later known as Lica Roman), copy SSF, there is mention of an authentic notarized document, nr. 719, of October 1918, from the Fourth Court in Bucharest, stating that Moritz Steinberg is the same person as Herscu Fridman. There is no mention of this name or its change or correction in any other official documents presently known (as of 2012) to ST’s heirs or SSF, or in the family genealogy prepared by Judith Steinberg Bassow (Martin’s granddaughter), who graciously made originals in her possession and copies available to me. Bassow prepared her genealogy with the cooperation of ST, and in one of the corrections and additions in his hand, he wrote that his grandmother Clara’s name was sometimes given as Hinke and that she died in 1931. To write the family genealogy, I also consulted ST’s letter to his niece, Daniela (Dana) Roman, February 9, 1991; ST’s correspondence with AB, published in Italian as Lettere a Aldo Buzzi, 1945–99, ed. Aldo Buzzi (Milan: Adelphi, 2002); and an unpublished English translation by John Sheply (through 1977) and James Marcus (1978–99), made for SSF. Also R & S and R & S Outtakes. Some genealogical documents that are also in possession of SSF can be found in YCAL, Box 9.

two of Moritz’s brothers: Berl Steinberg settled in Arizona. His son, Phil, became one of ST’s favorite relatives and correspondents. For a photo showing Phil’s uncanny resemblance to ST, see S:I, p. 263. Family correspondence (where appropriate in later chapters) will show that Harry Steinberg and his daughter, Henrietta Danson, were instrumental in bringing ST to the United States in 1941; that Martin Steinberg assisted; and that later, he and his son, Charles, joined ST in providing financial support for relatives who had settled in Israel.

The Steinbergs had been Romanian: ST occasionally joked (as he did in ST to AB, March 18, 1988) that he should have called himself Saul Tiraspol, for that was a better name for an artist than Steinberg.

living in Walachia for at least six generations: ST, diary entry in spiral notebook, n.d., but following May 19, 1991, YCAL, Box 75; Dana Roman, interview, January 7, 2008; Stéphane Roman, interviews, January 12 and 13, 2008. Unless otherwise noted, genealogical information comes from these interviews and from the Steinberg family genealogies prepared by Judith Steinberg Bassow.

the family had taken the name Jacobson: Iancu is the Romanian form of Jacob, Itic is Isaac. Norman Manea, interview, June 11, 2008, told me that Jacobson would be a logical Westernization of this name.

“a peculiar sort of Romanian”: Cummings, “ST Interviews.”

“trussed [them] up”: Hannah Pakula, The Last Romantic: The Life of the Legendary Marie, Queen of Roumania (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1984), p. 116. Pakula is quoting in part Ethel Greening Pantazzi, Roumania in Light and Shadow (Toronto: Ryerson, n.d.), p. 77. The eye shadow information is from Norman Stone, World War One (New York: Basic Books, 2009).

military figures that later populated his grandson’s art: See, for example, ST’s commercial drawing for the jacket cover of Stephen Borsody’s The Tragedy of Europe (New Haven: Yale Concilium on International and Area Studies, 1980). See also R & S, p. 8, for ST’s father in uniform. Other examples of ST’s art, particularly in the 1980s, are replete with military figures and are cited in later chapters.

the pleasure of looking at girls: ST to AB, May 24, 1996, SSF.

When he wrote down: Diary entry in spiral notebook, May 24, 1991, YCAL, Box 75.

married there on December 6, 1911: The name of Rosa Steinberg’s father was inserted into hers on the marriage license. Diary entry in spiral notebook, n.d., but following May 19, 1991, YCAL, Box 75.

was born prematurely: This, and information that follows unless otherwise noted, is from a genealogy of the Steinberg/Roman family (Lica Steinberg married Ilie Roman in Bucharest on April 29, 1942) prepared by Judith Steinberg Bassow and annotated by ST, from versions of the ST/Bassow genealogy and others in SSF, from interviews and conversations with Daniela Roman, January 7, 2008, and Stéphane Roman, January 12 and 13, 2008, and from e‑mails and telephone conversations with Judith Steinberg Bassow throughout 2010–11.

Rosa kept him bedridden for six months: Daniela Roman, interview, July 24, 2007, Amagansett, N.Y.

“the General:” Daniela Roman, in conversation, July 25, 2008, Amagansett, N.Y.

began to feature Zia Elena: Zia Elena first appeared in the Italian satirical newspaper Bertoldo when ST was a student in Milan. For examples, see S:I, fig. 12, pp. 26–27 and p. 87, fig. 2.

sub rosa: ST, diary in spiral notebook, May 19, 1991, YCAL, Box 75.

a “horror” and a “terrorist”: These terms were used in interviews and conversations in 2007–8 with Dana and Stéphane Roman; HS, interviews and conversations, 2007–8; Ruth Nivola, interview, July 24, 2007; ST’s YCAL correspondence and diaries (one example being YCAL, Box 75); ST’s letters to HS at AAA/DC. In conversation, May 7, 2008, HS insisted that “you [DB] can never say too strongly how much Saul hated his mother. He despised her.”

Moritz told Rosa he had a daughter: Dana and Stéphane Roman were unable to find genealogical proof to support a rumor in the Steinberg family that Moritz had been legally married to Sofia’s mother, who died in childbirth, the date being variously given in family records as September 4 and September 11. They did verify that Sofia was raised by her mother’s family, and a photo of her is in the Steinberg family album originally kept by Rosa and Moritz and now in possession of Dana Roman, copy in SSF. The photo caption states that Sofia Steinberg was ST’s half-sister and gives her birth date as September 11. In diary entry in spiral notebook, n.d., but following May 19, 1991, YCAL, Box 75, ST writes of a possible early marriage in Braila and posits that the daughter’s name may have been Rebeccah and her birth date September 4, 1911.

Saul’s memory of this family drama: ST, diary entry in spiral notebook, n.d., but following May 19, 1991, YCAL, Box 75.

There were many things she thought were her due: HS, interview, September 9, 2007. All examples of Rosa’s behavior are from this interview.

“radar with mother”: ST gave “Examples of Radar with Mother” in a diary note, January 7, 1960, YCAL, Box 3. Norman Manea wrote of it in “Made in Romania,” New York Review of Books 47, no. 2 (February 10, 2000).

“the only taboo”: Cella and Norman Manea, interview June 11, 2008, New York.

“the perfect intangibility of love”: HS, conversation, May 7, 2007.

He was between six and eight months old: ST, diary entry in spiral notebook, n.d., but following May 19, 1991, YCAL, Box 75. In ST to AB, November 1, 1988, ST writes that he lived in Râmnicul-Sărat for only six months “and then goodbye, off to [Bucharest].” He is vague and somewhat contradictory elsewhere about where they lived during his father’s desertion, which makes it seem that they also lived in Buzău with him.

“prehistoric monster”: ST to AB, September 29, and October 1, 1998.

Saul’s strongest memory: ST to IF, Friday, July 10, 1998, copy in YCAL, Box 33.

Goaded by Rosa: ST to AB, October 2, 1988.

Strada Soarelui: Ibid.

he strutted proudly: Norman Manea, interview, June 11, 2008, and “Made in Romania.”

Rosa always managed to find fault: HS remembered ST talking about these instances. Stéphane Roman verified memories of his mother saying the same. Dana Roman remembered how her grandmother constantly recalled earlier slights as if they were contemporary ones.

“not such a great invention”: Robert Hughes, “The World of Steinberg,” Time, April 17, 1978, p. 96; reprinted as “Saul Steinberg,” in Nothing If Not Critical: Selected Essays on Art and Artists (New York: Penguin, 1992), pp. 260–61.

“extremely high”: Hughes, Nothing If Not Critical, p. 260.

“the smell of an artist’s studio”: See, for example, R &S, pp. 4–7; ST’s Ex-Voto, SSF 3341. ST’s correspondence with AB also contains many such references.

“the secret language of my parents, Yiddish”: Hughes, Nothing If Not Critical, p. 260. Other references to Yiddish include ST to AB, September 29, 1981, SSF; Jean Frémon, “Conversation avec Saul Steinberg,” Repères no. 30, 1986 (Paris: Galerie Maeght Lelong), p. 17.

“the Thousand and One Nights ”: R & S, p. 17.

Jacques’s formidable wrath: Ibid., p. 18.

“Réveille-toi, Roumain”: ST to AB, October 7, 1990. ST was reading Cioran’s History and Utopia, which he believed “amply explains the Romanians, including me.” R & S, p. 18.

one of the largest red-light districts: Pezzetti, “Memories of Romania,” mss. p. 52. ST made these remarks in an unpublished section of the ms. that became R & S. After his death, AB sent a group of outtakes to SSF, among them this one; all were translated by James Marcus and are cited as R & S Outtakes. A small selection was published as “Saul Steinberg: Portraits and Landscapes,” Paris Review no. 195 (Winter 2010): 27–36.

The activity was especially fascinating: ST related the incident that follows to Mary Frank; Mary Frank, interview, January 25, 2009.

“a fat lame man”: R & S, p. 20.

adult penchant for casino gambling: IF, interview, October 12, 2007; R & S, p. 19.

“almost all of them thieves”: R & S Outtakes. The Marcovic family emigrated to Israel. Their name is written also as Marcovici in some of the family correspondence translated as Romanian letters, SSF. Reference is also to R & S, p. 17.

he was content to pore over them: HS, interview, May 8, 2007; ST, “Wartime Diary” (SSF renamed it “Journal, 1940–42”), now in YCAL, Box 89, Folder “Tortoreto 1940–42.” Also, drawing bearing the date August 19, 1941, Ciudad Trujillo, YCAL, Box 20. Information also comes from interviews and conversations with HS throughout 2007.

“thinking angel”: R & S, p. 12; see also SSF 2736–38.

“suffering profession”: Cummings, “ST interviews.”

“a man on horseback”: “How I Draw,” R & S Outtakes. Ferdinand I was king of Romania from 1914 to 1917. ST depicted the king, the queen, and their entourage in the 1966 drawing “Strada Palas,” WMAA, p. 133.

“Remember,” he instructed himself: Geert Mak, In Europe: Travels Through the 20th Century, trans. Sam Garrett (New York: Pantheon, 2007), p. 767: “Bucharest is a city of more than two million inhabitants, with an estimated 300,000 stray dogs. You see dogs everywhere, alone or in packs.”

Steinberg heard his mother and aunts: ST to HS, May 10, 1944, AAA. See also S:I, “Bucharest in 1924,” p. 180.

Critics compared him: These comparisons appear in a far-ranging series of taped conversations with Grace Glueck, which were eventually edited into her article “The Artist Speaks: Saul Steinberg,” Art in America, November–December 1970, pp. 110–17. A copy of what appears to be the original tape transcripts is in the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. Several revisions by Glueck and ST were made later, and copies are in YCAL, Box 16, Folder “16: Correspondence 1967,” and YCAL, Box 8, Folder 28.

“Too many geniuses”: Sergio Zavoli, “Saul Steinberg: Intervista Televisiva con Sergio Zavoli,” electronic file, Italian television network RAI, 1967. For comparisons with Klee, see also S:I, p. 82 and p. 236, n. 1; p. 168 and p. 245, n. 113.

“To solve once and for all”: Glueck, copy of original transcript of unedited tape, pp. 19–20, AAA.

“every explanation”: Ibid., p. 12.

“a line is a thought that went for a walk”: Among them were HS, interview, November 13, 2007; Dore Ashton, telephone conversation, February 22, 2010; Dr. Mark Podwal, interview, July 10, 2008; Christo and Jeanne-Claude, interview, August 9, 2007. The actual quotation is “Die Linie ist ein Punkt, der spazieren geht” (a line is a dot that went for a walk).

“the same one I acquired back then”: Glueck, early revised and edited transcript of “The Artist Speaks,” YCAL, Box 8, Folder 28.

Steinberg’s earliest extant drawing: The kindergarten photo is reproduced in S:I, p. 84; the photo itself is in YCAL, Box 20, Folder “Early Photos.”

Both are charcoal: ST always insisted that he had never had formal training in art; he told Grace Glueck, “I never went to an art school or anything” (original transcript, p. 20), but he did attend drawing classes in high school and also had architectural drawing classes at the Politecnico, as discussed in subsequent chapters.

One is a six-sided pyramid: The pyramid is on a charcoal sheet, framed (probably by ST as an adult), 9½ x 11½ in. on laid paper, now in SSF; the portrait of Moritz is 38 x 28 cm (sight), framed, done before ST went to Milan in 1932, kept by his parents, and either given to or inherited by Lica Roman. It hung in her house in Cachan, France, and is now in the collection of Daniela Roman. Unfortunately, neither drawing is of reproduction quality.

an aura about the portrait: HS, conversations throughout 2007–8; Norman and Cella Manea interview, June 11, 2008; ST to AB, particularly letters written between 1996 and 1999; ST’s diary writings, YCAL, Boxes 75 and 95.

“pure Dada”: Dore Ashton, telephone conversation, February 22, 2010, in regard to a typed early version of the article “What I Draw Is Drawing,” in Saul Steinberg, 7 Febrero–7 Abril 2002 (Valencia, Spain, Institute Valencia d’Art Modern), English translation, pp. 152ff.

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