Art director and graphic designer Paul Rand (1914-1996) is known for creating memorable logos for prominent corporations. As a friend of New Yorker artist Saul Steinberg (1914-1999), he was the recipient in 1961 of a preliminary cover design for that magazine. The original art was sold at auction five years ago at a sale of pieces from the designer's estate by Wright Auctions. Rand's cover study for The New Yorker is clearly unfinished; the suited male figure with hat and cane leaning over to smell or admire the flowers at close range is only pencilled in. Only the flowers are inked or colored. By his final published version, Steinberg was to reverse this figure, making him left facing rather than right facing. He elaborated the riot of flowers and added colorful insects above the figure for balance. The preliminary art was estimated at $5,000 to $7,000. It sold for $5,313.
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| Saul Steinberg Wright Auctions, September 13, 2018 |
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