Sara Berman was the "apostle of simplicity". - Judith Thurman
National Jewish Book Award Finalist.
Maira Kalman and Alex Kalman, the designer, curator, writer, and founder of Mmuseumm, combine their talents in this captivating family memoir, a creative blend of narrative and striking visuals that is a paean to an exceptional woman and a celebration of individuality, personal expression, and the art of living authentically.
“A tribute to women who reinvent themselves” - Judith Thurman, New Yorker, March 8, 2017
“An illustrated tribute to Maira Kalman’s late mother, this book deconstructs the life and spirit of Sara Berman through items in her meticulously kept closet.” - Publishers Weekly
“The installation of her small closet—garments and linens folded with tender precision, a potato grater, a bottle of Chanel No. 19—is a shrine to humility and intention.” - The New Yorker
“A reflection on her experiences and a study of the value (monetary and not) of the things we keep.” - Vogue
“A new way of looking at rooms and possessions and women’s history.” - Amelia Peck, curator of American decorative arts at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
“Sara Berman’s Closet” is like a living Maira Kalman painting: It’s filled with poetic details and her signature elements of irreverent humor and warmth.” - T Magazine
“An unexpected meditation on modern city life: a modest closet from a studio apartment in the West Village, filled with the curious, lovely and very particular personal effects of Sara Berman, a Belarussian and Israeli émigré who was the mother of Maira Kalman, the irreverent artist, book author and illustrator.” - New York Times
Book design by Alex Kalman / What Studio?