Hirschfeld, Albert (″Al”).

The American Theatre as seen by Hirschfeld.

First Ediiton. New York, George Braziller, 1961. Oblong-Quarto. [254 pages]. Original Hardcover with original dustjacket in protective collector’s mylar. Excellent condition of the volume itself with only minor signs of wear. The rare dustjacket with very few minor tears and one small piece of the jacket (1 inch) missing). All illustrations in stunning condition. Beautiful publication.

Albert “Al” Hirschfeld (June 21, 1903 – January 20, 2003) was an American caricaturist best known for his black and white portraits of celebrities and Broadway stars.
Hirschfeld started young and continued drawing to the end of his life, thus chronicling nearly all the major entertainment figures of the 20th century. During Hirschfeld’s nearly eight-decade career, he gained fame by illustrating the actors, singers, and dancers of various Broadway plays, which would appear in advance in The New York Times to herald the play’s opening. Though “Theater” was Hirschfeld’s best known field of interest, according to his long-time art dealer Margo Feiden, he actually drew more for the movies than he did for live plays. “By the ripe old age of 17, while his contemporaries were learning how to sharpen pencils, Hirschfeld became an art director at Selznick Pictures. He held the position for about four years, and then in 1924 Hirschfeld moved to Paris to work and lead the Bohemian life. Hirschfeld also grew a beard, necessitated by the exigencies of living in a cold-water flat. This he retained—the beard, not the flat—for the next 75 years, presumably because “you never know when your oil burner will go on the fritz.″
In addition to Broadway and film, Hirschfeld also drew politicians, TV stars, and celebrities of all stripes from Cole Porter and the Nicholas Brothers to the cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Hirschfeld also caricatured jazz musicians—Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Dizzy Gillespie, Billie Holiday, and Ella Fitzgerald—and rockers The Beatles, Elvis Presley, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, Jerry Garcia, and Mick Jagger. In 1977 Hirschfeld drew the cover of Aerosmith’s Draw the Line album.

Hirschfeld drew many original movie posters, which include posters for Charlie Chaplin’s films, as well as The Wizard of Oz (1939). The “Rhapsody in Blue” segment in the Disney film Fantasia 2000 was inspired by his designs and Hirschfeld became an artistic consultant for the segment; the segment’s director, Eric Goldberg, is a longtime fan of his work. Further evidence of Goldberg’s admiration for Hirschfeld can be found in Goldberg’s character design and animation of the genie in Aladdin (1992). He was the subject of the Oscar-nominated documentary film, The Line King: The Al Hirschfeld Story (1996). (Wikipedia)

• Keywords: 20er Jahre · 20s · 30er Jahre · 30s · 40s · 50er Jahre · 50s · 60er Jahre · 60s · American Art · American Theatre · Caricature · Catalogue Four – International Art · Catalogue Winter 2020 / 2021 · fifties · forties · History of Art – Rare · Inanna Modern – Art Books · sixties · Theater · Theatergeschichte · Theatre · Theatre – Rare · thirties · twenties · USA
• Language: English
• Inventory Number: 27522AB

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