ANITA SIEGEL

SIEGEL--Anita, 72, Artist, best known for her collages made from found images, died May 3, 2011 in Manhattan. She had been ill for several years. Her death was confirmed by her longtime friend Nancy Grossman, an artist with whom Siegel was famously photographed with a scarf tied around both of their heads by Richard Avedon. Born in Brooklyn, 1939, and entirely self-taught, she worked in sculpture, constructions of wood, metal and cloth, but is most recognized for her sardonic collages seamlessly combining pictures into biting satires. Siegel was one of the first artists whose work was used on the Op-Ed page of the New York Times when the use of art was initiated by Editor Charlotte Curtis and Lou Silverstein. Her memorable images appeared frequently during the Vietnam and Watergate Eras. Between 1956 and 2004, her work was exhibited in Museums and Galleries such as The Brooklyn Museum, Krasner Gallery, The Riverside Museum, Art Directors Club, Frank Rehn Gallery, The American Institute of Graphic Art, The Jewish Theological Seminary -- all in New York; The Weatherspoon Museum of Art, North Carolina; Louvre Musee des Arts Decoratifs, Paris, France; Musee des Beaux-Arts, Bordeaux, France; Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels, Belgium. Her collages appeared in numerous publications such as Harper's Bazaar, Esquire, Ms. Magazine and The Saturday Review. She was honored by the American Institute of Graphic Arts, Art Director's Clubs of New York and New Jersey and the Society of Publication Designers respectively in 1972, '73 and '74 with Certificates of Merit and Excellence. She is survived by her sister Arlene Gindoff and her niece Allana Syllvan, both of Jackson, NJ.