Mexican Airmail

Before recognizing the elements of this image, we can sense dynamism, machinery, movement—the vocabulary of 1900s-style modern life. Closer inspection reveals the Spanish and English message that this is all about air mail. Saul Steinberg made a series of Cubistic abstract collage drawings based on specialized airmail stationery that had colorful borders of repeated diagonal stripes. The nearby circle recalls the whirring propeller of an airplane, whose other components are suggested by abstract shapes.