SAUL STEINBERG (1914-1999)
Taxi Cab. Design for a play prop.
Created for a single-run play written by and starring Bokara Legendre titled Taxi, 1966. Cut-out design with pencil, pastel, ink, and stamps on brown paper. With Steinberg's copyright/date stamp (1966) in lower center image. 407x673 mm; 16x26½ inches, attached in a few areas to 19x29½-inch board within a contemporary metal and glass frame by artist/framer Robert Kulicke. Provenance: Estate of Margherita V. Niscemi. Bokara was a breathtakingly creative artist, writer, performer, philanthropist, and television host beginning in the 1960s until her death in 2017. She was a familiar contributor to the famed New York storytelling group "The Moth," performing numerous monologues based on her adventurous life, many of which were played on The Moth Radio Hour. She worked as a freelance journalist for several publications including the New York Times and was a long-time member of the Board of Directors for The Paris Review. As an ordained Buddhist minister committed to spirituality and philanthropy, she produced a 13-part television series on LINK TV in which she brought together notable teachers of various spiritual disciplines, many of whom were her close friends. Niscemi, who often created under the name Maita di Niscemi, was head assistant to stage director/playwright Robert Wilson. She was involved in the production of Taxi, and both she and Legendre were friendly with Steinberg through their New York City social and cultural circles.