LINCOLN CENTER a view of the world

A rare spin on Steinberg’s view of New York, with the Lincoln Center replacing 9th Avenue.

As host to luminous organizations like the Juilliard School, Metropolitan Opera, and the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts is a global cultural icon. The 16-acre campus is cleverly illustrated here in the style of Saul Steinberg’s View of New York from 9th Avenue, first published as a cover for the New Yorker magazine in 1976.

The satirical image presents the Lincoln Center as the clearly defined center of the world, with its numerous buildings accurately pictured and labeled. As the eye ‘travels’ further east, various other cultural facilities and prominent geographic features are noted across a concise (and somewhat dismissive) summation of the rest of the United States, Asia, and Europe. Scattered vignettes recognize local operas, performing arts centers, and ballets, but the true center of the world of drama and music lies at the corner of Columbus Avenue and 63rd Street.

Designed, published and distributed by Harvey Hutter & Company of New York around 1990. Hutter created a number of views that mimicked Steinberg’s novel visualization of a geo-centricity, though this example seems particularly scarce. I have been unable to find other market records and there are no entries in OCLC or other online repositories.