In the Café: Harry Sternberg

For the grand re-opening of Café Atelier, we are pleased to share a series of caricatures by Harry Sternberg (1904–2001) featuring other League Instructors and famous artists.

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Harry Sternberg was born to immigrant parents from Russia and Hungary. He studied at the Art Students League with Harry Wickey during the 1920s. Between 1933 and 1968, he taught printmaking and painting at the League. Here, he met the artist Yasuo Kuniyoshi, a fellow instructor. As League instructors, Sternberg and Kuniyoshi worked together on a mural of the villains of World War II in 1943, frequently using each other as models in their works. In 1931, Sternberg’s work was exhibited at the Whitney Museum of American Art for the first time. As part of the United States government’s response to the Depression, Sternberg became a Works Progress Administration (WPA) artist. His murals are still on display in post offices in Chicago, IL and Chester and Sellersville, PA. During his years at the League, Sternberg wrote several books about printing, including screenprinting, etching, and wood cutting. Students of Sternberg include Sigmund Abeles, Isabel Bishop, Knox Martin, and Charles White. After retirement, he moved to California where he remained active as an educator and artist until his death in 2001.