The Benton Museum of Art at Pomona College will open 'Give Them a Riddle: Gifts from The Saul Steinberg Foundation' on August 22, 2026, presenting nearly all of the 75 works recently gifted to the museum by the foundation. The exhibition is scheduled to run through January 3, 2027, and traces Steinberg’s inventive practice across five decades, from early commercial work and ink drawings to sculptures of the artist’s workspace and drawings made on unconventional supports such as metal plates.
The Benton’s exhibition announcement frames Steinberg as more than a familiar New Yorker contributor. While he is best known for that long association, the museum describes him as a leading twentieth-century artist, philosopher, and cultural critic whose work moved across media and themes. The show is built around the museum’s new holdings from The Saul Steinberg Foundation and centers on the evolution of his distinctive graphic language.
According to the museum, 'Give Them a Riddle' uses those works to show how Steinberg documented, satirized, and critiqued post–World War II culture. The exhibition takes its title from a late-career remark by the artist: “It is one of the most important functions of art and literature and poetry: Give them a riddle. Give them a headache!” The Benton’s text notes that the installation aims to avoid the headache while foregrounding the wit, inventiveness, and visual elasticity that characterize the works on view.
The selection spans a range of formats that reflect Steinberg’s restless experimentation. The museum lists early-career commercial works, ink drawings, later sculptures of the artist’s workspace, and drawings on metal plates among the materials included. Image captions on the museum’s website also point to works such as 'LA' (1994), 'Albergo Minerva' (c. 1961), 'Speech' (1966), 'Trains' (c. 1950), and an untitled mixed-media work from 1988–92, indicating the breadth of dates and techniques represented in the gift.
Organized by Victoria Sancho Lobis, Sarah Rempel and Herbert S. Rempel 1923 Director of the Benton and associate professor of art history, together with curatorial intern Arivumani Srivastava ’26, the exhibition is also supported by the Judith A. Cion ’65 Fund in Endowment for Student-Curated Exhibitions. The Benton says the show explores the intersections of Steinberg’s art and biography, shaped by what it describes as his “global peripatetic existence” and his constant creative experimentation.
'Give Them a Riddle' is one of three future exhibitions listed by the Benton for the museum’s fall 2026 reopening. The museum’s site says new exhibitions open Saturday, August 22, 2026, and that admission to exhibitions and events is free and open to the public. For Steinberg, the museum presents the gift as a compact survey of a career that moved from press illustration to wide-ranging artistic production, gathered here in nearly all of the 75 works recently added to the Benton’s collection.
