A cartoonist for New Yorker magazine, Steinberg was known for his satirical style. Over his 50-year career with the magazine, he produced 642 drawings plus 85 covers, the most famous being “View of the World from 9th Avenue” (March 29, 1976 issue), an often-imitated jab at the tendency of New Yorkers to view the city as most of the world: Ninth Avenue takes up half the foreground, and tiny patches in the far background stand in for “Pacific Ocean” and “China” — and little else.
“He was making fun of New Yorkers, but he was including himself,” says cover editor Francoise Mouly. His “twisted” drawings of Hitler and Benito Mussolini were printed in quantity and dropped behind enemy lines during World War II. Born in Romania, Steinberg received a doctorate in architecture in Italy at age 26. He worked in the field for only a few months, but his precise drawings (thanks to what he called “reasoned lines”) reflected his training. Steinberg died May 12 at his Manhattan home. He was 84.