HAMBURG.- Museum fur Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg presents today Saul Steinberg - Illuminations, on view through June 1, 2009. Saul Steinberg (1914-1999) is probably the greatest draughtsman of the 20th century; he is one of the most eminent American artists. With his unerring sense of line he created satirical drawings depicting everyday life in post-war America, including something like 1,200 drawings (over 5 decades) for the American cultural magazine The New Yorker. They made him world-famous. His breakthrough in the international art world came in 1958 with his 80-metre long wall painting The Americans for the World Exhibition in Brussels. His most celebrated work, The world as seen from 9th Avenue (1976) caricatures the world view of the inhabitants of Manhattan: On 9th Avenue people are only interested in their immediate surroundings; the rest of the world beyond shrinks to a few horizons. Whilst Steinberg is well-known to many as a draughtsman and cartoonist, few people realize what a broad range his creative oeuvre covers. This is precisely what this exhibition will point out: in addition to his most important and finest drawings, you will also be able to see sculptures, photographs, prints, paper masks, postcards and collages – many of them on display for the first time.

The MKG is proud to be the presenter of the first Steinberg retrospective in Germany. Hamburg is the only German venue of this overview of his work, which has also been seen in the Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson in Paris, the Kunsthaus Zurich and the Dulwich Picture Gallery in London. The catalogue to the exhibition will be published by Hatje Cantz Verlag (288 pages, 310 illustrations, 175 of them in colour).