AL HIRSCHFELD

T HE POWE R OF T HE L I NE
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, Hirschfelds
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
Hirschfelds 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 AL HI RS CHF E L D
OLD BLUE EYES (SKETCH OF FRANK SINATRA)
AL HI RS CHF EL D
BILLIE HOLIDAY
BY AL HI RS CHF 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 AL HI RS CHF E L D
BARBRA STREISAND
BY AL HI RS CHF 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
AL HI RS CHF EL D
SPOT THE NINAS?
AL HI RS CHF EL D
HOW ABOUT ANOTHER ONE?
AL HI RS CHF EL 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. PERELMANS FOR THE BOOKS WESTWARD HA!
AND SWISS FAMILY PERELMAN
HE ILLUSTRATED BOOKS FOR FRED ALLENS NOVELS TREADMILL TO
OBLIVION AND BROOKS ATKINSONS 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 Hirschfelds 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. Hirschfelds
rhythmic, flowing line art represented much more
than the spirit of New York, the glamor of
Hollywood, or the golden age of Broadway.
Rather, Hirschfelds 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
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ALE%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
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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
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Kampel, S. (2007). Al Hirschfeld. In M. Berenbaum & F. Skolnik (Eds.), Encyclopaedia Judaica (2nd ed.). Detroit: Macmillan
Reference USA. Retrieved from
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ALE%7CK2587509007&source=Bookmark&u=calunivpa&jsid=6c4632d8bc04a9391505c39ac78ec3ce
Feiffer, J. (2003, April). Al Hirschfeld: 1903-2003. (In Memoriam). American Theatre, 20(4), 16. Retrieved from
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Pallant, C. (2010). Neo-Disney: Recent developments in Disney feature animation. New Cinemas: Journal of Contemporary
Film, 8(2), 103-117.