You may be familiar with her work through her wonderful children’s books or perhaps you laughed when you saw her famous New Yorker cover called “New Yorkistan.” However you know her, you know that Maira Kalman is an enormously talented and whimsical writer, illustrator, artist, and designer. Now 69 years old, the Israeli-born Kalman is the daughter of Russian Jews who first fled to Israel and later relocated to the United States, where she grew up in the Riverdale section of the Bronx. Kalman married Tibor Kalman, and for decades they ran the famous design firm M & Co. Throughout her career, Maira Kalman’s work has reflected a unique and playful look at everyday life coupled with wit and curiosity about the world around her.

Her latest creation continues a loving tribute that she began a few years ago in honor of her mother, Sara Berman. In her later years, Berman ended her marriage and began life on her own in a Greenwich Village apartment, which she paired down to a minimalist aesthetic, including a perfectly organized and ironed closet filled only with white clothes. Kalman and her son Alexander recreated that closet and presented it as an exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The exhibit still continues to be on view in museums around the country. Now Kalman and her son have continued this loving nod to Berman with the publication of the book, Sara Berman’s Closet. The book is filled with delightful illustrations of Sara over her lifetime, as well as family photos and memorabilia, and it stands as a loving tribute to a woman who long ago declared her independence and lived a deeply personal and unique life at a time when few women would take such risks. You can watch Maira and Alexander Kalman talk about the book and their loving tribute to Berman. And if you’re longing for more about the influence of Berman on Maira, then read here about Kalman’s comfort in, and dedication to, ironing as a meditative pastime and tribute to her mother.