Hirschfeld: Art and Recollections From Eight Decades

by Al Hirschfeld

Book by Al Hirschfeld

Genres: Art

306 pages, Hardcover

First published November 25, 1991

About the author

Al Hirschfeld was an American caricaturist renowned for his elegant black-and-white portraits of celebrities, Broadway stars, and cultural icons, whose distinctive style, executed in pure line with a crow quill, became instantly recognizable and influential across generations of artists and illustrators. Born in St. Louis to German and Russian Jewish parents, Hirschfeld trained at the Art Students League and the National Academy of Design, later studying in Paris and London, and began his career with commissions for the New York Herald Tribune before moving to The New York Times. Over an eight-decade career, he chronicled virtually every major figure in entertainment, from Broadway actors and film stars to jazz legends, rock musicians, and political personalities, while also contributing illustrations to magazines including TV Guide, Life, The New Yorker, Collier’s, and Rolling Stone, and designing original movie posters for films such as The Wizard of Oz and Charlie Chaplin features. Hirschfeld became famous for hiding his daughter Nina’s name in his drawings, a whimsical tradition that captured public imagination and became a beloved signature of his work. He was married to Dolly Haas, with whom he had Nina, and later to theatre historian Louise Kerz. Hirschfeld’s contributions were widely recognized with lifetime achievement Tony Awards, the National Medal of Arts, a star on the St. Louis Walk of Fame, and the renaming of the Martin Beck Theatre on Broadway as the Al Hirschfeld Theatre. His work is preserved in permanent collections at institutions including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, Harvard University, and the New York Public Library, ensuring that his legacy as the preeminent chronicler of twentieth-century American culture endures.

Reviews

[Sunny · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. Hirschfeld is the master of the line. Beautiful caricatures.