AL HIRSCHFELDT H E P O W E R O F T H E L I N E

UPBRINGING• Born on June 21, 1903, in

St. Louis, Missouri• Parents: Isaac Hirschfeld

and his Russian wife Rebecca (Rothberg).

• Parents supportive of his artistic interests• Wanted him to study art at

a prestigious art school.• In 1924, the Hirschfeld

family relocated to New York City• Al Hirschfeld was twelve.

TOUGH CHOICES!

• Economic Crash of the early twentieth century• Al Hirschfeld dropped

out of school at sixteen to begin earning a living• Ironically, Hirschfeld’s

decision to drop out would be the best decision of his life

A JOB AT WARNER BROTHERS• Landed a job as an office boy for

art director David O. Selznik at the Warner Brothers movie studio

• Selznik recognized Albert Hirschfeld’s talents

• Found a spot in the art department at Warner Brothers.

• Surrounded by Hollywood legends.

• Encapsulate the personality of famous singers, actors, and actresses• Drew Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald,

Frank Sinatra, Lena Horne, Josephine Baker, Julie Andrews, Rex Harrison, Liza Minnelli and Joel Gray

Julie Andrews

BY A L H I R S C H F E L D

“OLD BLUE EYES” (SKETCH OF FRANK SINATRA)

A L H I R SC H F E L D

“BILLIE HOLIDAY”

BY A L H I R S C H F E L D

“LIZA MINNELLI”

OFF TO EUROPE…

• In 1924, Hirschfeld went to Europe to study art

• In Paris, he was classically trained in drawing, sculpting and painting

• On a trip to Bali, the sun appeared to bleach out all color in the clothing,• "walking line drawings.”

• From that point on, Hirschfeld developed obsessed with lines• “enchanted with line"

THE RIGHT CONNECTIONS

• In 1926, Hirschfeld sketched the renowned French actor Sacha Guitry

• Showed it to a friend who had contacts at the New York Herald Tribune

• His cartoon was published on the theater page

• Hirschfeld cemented his career in cartooning

“Sacha Guitry”

DRAWING IN THE DARK

• Cartooning in theatre section of New York newspapers • seventy-five year career

• Hirschfeld would often be present on opening night of theatre productions• Perfected a method of

drawing in the pitch darkness.

BY A L H I R S C H F E L D

“BARBRA STREISAND”

BY A L H I R S C H F E L D

“TEVYE” (FROM FIDDLER ON THE ROOF)

HIDDEN “NINAS”• Hirschfeld has shown love

for his daughter, Nina, by hiding her name into all of his drawings

• Frequently found in the hair or costumes of his pen drawings

• Viewer interaction• Would write the number of

times her name appears beside his signature

• Whoopie Goldberg holds the record for most “Ninas” at 40 total

A L H I R SC H F E L D

SPOT THE “NINAS”?

A L H I R SC H F E L D

HOW ABOUT ANOTHER ONE?

A L H I R SC H F E L D

ONE MORE…

BOOK ILLUSTRATIONS

• 1940s into the 1970s: Hirschfeld illustrated books for several well-known New York writers• He even illustrated a couple of his own written

works.

HIRSCHFELD CONTRIBUTED DRAWINGS AND CO-WROTE WITH S.J. PERELMAN’S FOR THE BOOKS WESTWARD HA! AND SWISS FAMILY PERELMAN

HE ILLUSTRATED BOOKS FOR FRED ALLEN’S NOVELS TREADMILL TO OBLIVION AND BROOKS ATKINSON’S THE

LIVELY YEARS.

HIRSCHFELD WROTE SHOW BUSINESS IS NO BUSINESS IN 1951, THE WORLD OF HIRSCHFELD IN 1968, AND

HARLEM AS SEEN BY HIRSCHFELD IN 1979

STAMPS FOR HIRSCHFELD• In 1991, the United

States Mint honored Al Hirschfeld with the issue of a series of commemorative 29-cent postage stamps

• Although secret messages are not allowed in U.S. stamps, the Postmaster General allowed Hirschfeld to include one “Nina” in each of his drawings

PASSING

• Hirschfeld died on January 20, 2003, at the impressive age of ninety-nine--nearly a century! He died of natural causes at his home in Manhattan, New York

CONTINUING LEGACY• The Walt Disney

Company drew from Al Hirschfeld’s style for the art direction of their 1992 animated feature film Aladdin• Furthermore, the

Disney Company honored Al Hirschfeld with the animated short “Rhapsody in Blue” in the film Fantasia 2000

CONCLUSION

• Hirschfeld could certainly look back on his ninety-nine years of life with contentment knowing that he had made the most of his talents and left an indelible impact on society with his art. Hirschfeld’s rhythmic, flowing line art represented much more than the spirit of New York, the glamor of Hollywood, or the golden age of Broadway. Rather, Hirschfeld’s work as a whole embodied the energy, free-spirit, commotion, pride, and excitement that for so many represented twentieth century America.

BIOGRAPHY• Al Hirschfeld. (1992). In Newsmakers. Detroit: Gale. Retrieved from

http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/bic1/ReferenceDetailsPage/ReferenceDetailsWindow?failOverType=&query=&prodId=BIC1&windowstate=normal&contentModules=&mode=view&displayGroupName=Reference&limiter=&currPage=&disableHighlighting=false&displayGroups=&sortBy=&search_within_results=&p=BIC1&action=e&catId=&activityType=&scanId=&documentId=GALE%7CK1618000058&source=Bookmark&u=calunivpa&jsid=11073d4c6c874177a9ffec478014d72d

• Albert Hirschfeld. (2000). In S. Pendergast & T. Pendergast (Eds.), St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture. Detroit: St. James Press. Retrieved from http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/bic1/ReferenceDetailsPage/ReferenceDetailsWindow?failOverType=&query=&prodId=BIC1&windowstate=normal&contentModules=&mode=view&displayGroupName=Reference&limiter=&currPage=&disableHighlighting=false&displayGroups=&sortBy=&search_within_results=&p=BIC1&action=e&catId=&activityType=&scanId=&documentId=GALE%7CK2419200545&source=Bookmark&u=calunivpa&jsid=f9eb645bce61233852ae0bb33c2feced

• Al Hirschfeld. (2014). In Encyclopaedia Britannica. Retrieved from http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/266858/Al-Hirschfeld

• Bennis, W. G., & Biederman, P. W. (1997). Organizing genius: The secrets of creative collaboration. Reading, Mass: Addison-Wesley.

• Drawing lines. (2012, November). American Theatre, 29(9), 12. Retrieved from http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/bic1/MagazinesDetailsPage/MagazinesDetailsWindow?failOverType=&query=&prodId=BIC1&windowstate=normal&contentModules=&mode=view&displayGroupName=Magazines&limiter=&currPage=&disableHighlighting=false&displayGroups=&sortBy=&search_within_results=&p=BIC1&action=e&catId=&activityType=&scanId=&documentId=GALE%7CA308131097&source=Bookmark&u=calunivpa&jsid=397ac19e91641368d95f7829a373aa07

• Kampel, S. (2007). Al Hirschfeld. In M. Berenbaum & F. Skolnik (Eds.), Encyclopaedia Judaica (2nd ed.). Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA. Retrieved from http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/bic1/ReferenceDetailsPage/ReferenceDetailsWindow?failOverType=&query=&prodId=BIC1&windowstate=normal&contentModules=&mode=view&displayGroupName=Reference&limiter=&currPage=&disableHighlighting=false&displayGroups=&sortBy=&search_within_results=&p=BIC1&action=e&catId=&activityType=&scanId=&documentId=GALE%7CK2587509007&source=Bookmark&u=calunivpa&jsid=6c4632d8bc04a9391505c39ac78ec3ce

• Feiffer, J. (2003, April). Al Hirschfeld: 1903-2003. (In Memoriam). American Theatre, 20(4), 16. Retrieved from http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/bic1/MagazinesDetailsPage/MagazinesDetailsWindow?failOverType=&query=&prodId=BIC1&windowstate=normal&contentModules=&mode=view&displayGroupName=Magazines&limiter=&currPage=&disableHighlighting=false&displayGroups=&sortBy=&search_within_results=&p=BIC1&action=e&catId=&activityType=&scanId=&documentId=GALE%7CA99555659&source=Bookmark&u=calunivpa&jsid=68517672a2a8d1c8878e45ec9e83c43b

• Pallant, C. (2010). Neo-Disney: Recent developments in Disney feature animation. New Cinemas: Journal of Contemporary Film, 8(2), 103-117.