Exclusive: A Hirschfeld Reflection of the 2015 Tony Nominees
An American in Paris Leslie Caron and Gene Kelly, 1951
Just like his theater work, this drawing appeared before the classic film musical premiered in 1951. This art was published in magazines and newspapers across the country as promotion for the film. Al Hirschfeld
The Elephant Man Kevin Conway, Philip Anglim, and Carol Shelly, 1979
Thirty-six years ago, Hirschfeld captured the essential elements of this Tony nominated drama before it opened on Broadway. He also drew the only revival of the show in his lifetime. Al Hirschfeld
Judy Kuhn in Chess1988
The first time Judy Kuhn was nominated for Best Actress in a Musical was in Chess in 1988. She was first nominated for Best Featured Actress in a Musical in Les Miserables in 1987. This year she ads yet another nomination for her role in Fun Home. Al Hirschfeld
On the Town Betty Comden, Adolph Green, Chris Alexander, Nancy Walker, John Battles, and Sono Osato,1944
Hirschfeld drew this original production of the great Comden and Green and Leonard Bernstein musical, as well as the two other Broadway revivals in 1971 and 1998. Al Hirschfeld
On the Twentieth Century Kevin Kline, Madeline Kahn, John Cullum, Dean Dittmar, George Coe and Imogene Coca,1978
Hirschfeld not only drew this cast drawing of the Tony nominated musical in 1978, but when it went on the road in 1979, he did the poster art for the touring company. Al Hirschfeld
The King and I Gertrude Lawrence and Yul Brynner, 1951
Hirschfeld showed Rodgers, Hammerstein, and Jerome Robbins films he had made of court dances in Siam when he heard they were working on a musical about the Asian country. He would draw every Broadway revival of the musical during his lifetime. Al Hirschfeld
You Can’t Take it With You Henry Travers, George Tobias, and Paula Trueman, 1937
Hirschfeld’s first editor at the New York Times was George S. kaufman. He would became good friends with Moss Hart and of course he drew the original Broadway production of the duo’s Pulitzer Prize winning comedy. He would later do promotional drawings for the 1938 Frank Capra film. Al Hirschfeld
The Visit John Wyse, Lynn Fontanne, and Alfred Lunt, 1958
Hirscheld opted not to go to the opening of the World’s Fair in Brussells in1958 in which his drawings were used for a mural in the American Pavilion probably in part because he would have missed the Lunts in this tragic comedy, the last time the famous couple appeared on Broadway together. Al Hirschfeld
Kander and Ebb,1978
Hirschfeld drew every show that John Kander was involved with on Broadway from 1959 to 1996, and for Fred Ebb, he drew every show from 1960 to 1996. He drew the award winning composing team for the New York Times Theater column in the 1977-18 season when their musical, The Act was playing on Broadway. Al Hirschfeld
The Who’s Tommy Paul Kandel, Cheryl Freeman, Buddy Smith, Michael Cerveris, Marcia Mitzman, and Jonathan Dokuchitz, 1993
Hirschfeld’s drawing of this classic rock opera captured Michael Cerveris in his Broadway debut. Al Hirschfeld
"The Hirschfeld Century: The Art of Al Hirschfeld" is the first major retrospective of the acclaimed portraitist, who immortalized celebrities and Broadway productions with his iconic drawings for nine decades. On view at The New-York Historical Society through Oct. 12, the exhibition features over 100 original drawings from the artist's early work for Hollywood studios to his last drawings for the New York Times. Highlights include classic portraits of Charlie Chaplin, Carol Channing, Ella Fitzgerald, Jane Fonda, and Ringo Starr, as well as cast drawings from such landmark productions as Fiddler on the Roof, West Side Story and The Glass Menagerie.
The book "The Hirschfeld Century: Portrait of an Artist and His Age," published by Alfred A. Knopf and featuring biographical text by David Leopold, is currently available exclusively at The New-York Historical Society exhibition, and will be available in bookstores around the country July 7. The artist's extraordinary career is revealed in more than 360 of his iconic black-and-white and color drawings, illustrations, and photographs. Hirschfeld's influences, his techniques, and his evolution from his earliest works to his last drawings, are all chronicled.
