
Maira Kalman
Zig-Zag Chair, 2014

From Maira Kalman, Ah-Ha to Zig-Zag: 31 Objects from Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum (New …

Acclaimed artist, illustrator, author, and designer Maira Kalman has been celebrating the extraordinary aspects of the everyday in her much-loved work for more than 35 years. “People just live their lives, and that amazes me,” she explains. “They get up, put on their shoes, eat a bowl of cereal, endure wars. They go out and make sense of it everyday, and that's what I like to show.” She transforms her impressions into pared-down vignettes full of lyricism and wit. In addition to producing paintings, drawings, and prints, writing and illustrating numerous books for adults and children, and designing her own line of products, Kalman has collaborated with the likes of Mark Morris, Michael Pollan, and Isaac Mizrahi. Her illustrations have graced multiple covers of The New Yorker and regularly appear in many publications.


From Maira Kalman, Ah-Ha to Zig-Zag: 31 Objects from Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum (New York: Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, 2014). Scanned by GHP.

Acclaimed artist, illustrator, author, and designer Maira Kalman has been celebrating the extraordinary aspects of the everyday in her much-loved work for more than 35 years. “People just live their lives, and that amazes me,” she explains. “They get up, put on their shoes, eat a bowl of cereal, endure wars. They go out and make sense of it everyday, and that's what I like to show.” She transforms her impressions into pared-down vignettes full of lyricism and wit. In addition to producing paintings, drawings, and prints, writing and illustrating numerous books for adults and children, and designing her own line of products, Kalman has collaborated with the likes of Mark Morris, Michael Pollan, and Isaac Mizrahi. Her illustrations have graced multiple covers of The New Yorker and regularly appear in many publications.