NEW YORK—Famous drawings of Broadway and movie stars, a gigantic Haitian drum, Asian masks, Indonesian tribal shadow puppets, and luxurious furniture are just some of the items to be presented at the Al Hirschfeld sale—an auction of the renowned late artist’s personal collection, on Wednesday at Doyle New York.
Hirschfeld’s influence on Broadway was enormous.
“Hirschfeld’s drawings were a part of almost every production on Broadway. And they appeared the Sunday before the shows opened, so they were not the reflection of what the critics thought, or what anybody else thought,” said David Leopold, curator and archivist of the nonprofit Al Hirschfeld Foundation, which is dedicated to promoting interest in theater and dramatic arts by mounting exhibitions and donating Hirschfeld’s works to museums and other venues. “He was an artist who approached the work, in a way, like a journalist. He wasn’t picking sides, he wasn’t telling you it was good [or] bad.”
The sale is comprised of over 100 pieces of property from the Manhattan townhouse that doubled as a studio for Hirschfeld. The items are currently on view.
Born in 1903, Al Hirschfeld displayed powerful artistic talent at a young age, prompting a move to New York when he was 12 so he could fully blossom professionally. He traveled and moved frequently, including to Bali, Paris, and Moscow.
After honing his skills in a variety of settings, the artist delivered on a request from The New York Times for a drawing that subsequently turned into an almost two times a month artwork feature in the paper for the next 75 years.
His drawings are principally in the form of uniquely diverse black-and-white caricature.
“He was much more influenced by artists from the East than of the West,” said Leopold. He drew many famous people in the entertainment industry, such as Woody Allen, Bob Hope, and Barbra Streisand.
“It’s an amazing thing that Al Hirschfeld worked until basically the day before he died. His spring of creativity was almost inexhaustible,” said Louise Hirschfeld Cullman, wife of the late artist, theater historian, and president of the Al Hirschfeld Foundation.
The only artist to have a theater named after him and having works presented in many public collections, Hirschfeld has left behind quite a legacy.
The website www.AlHirschfeldFoundation.org launched on Monday in commemoration of the artist’s 108th birthday on June 21, has many of his works available for perusal.
Hirschfeld’s influence on Broadway was enormous.
“Hirschfeld’s drawings were a part of almost every production on Broadway. And they appeared the Sunday before the shows opened, so they were not the reflection of what the critics thought, or what anybody else thought,” said David Leopold, curator and archivist of the nonprofit Al Hirschfeld Foundation, which is dedicated to promoting interest in theater and dramatic arts by mounting exhibitions and donating Hirschfeld’s works to museums and other venues. “He was an artist who approached the work, in a way, like a journalist. He wasn’t picking sides, he wasn’t telling you it was good [or] bad.”
The sale is comprised of over 100 pieces of property from the Manhattan townhouse that doubled as a studio for Hirschfeld. The items are currently on view.
Born in 1903, Al Hirschfeld displayed powerful artistic talent at a young age, prompting a move to New York when he was 12 so he could fully blossom professionally. He traveled and moved frequently, including to Bali, Paris, and Moscow.
After honing his skills in a variety of settings, the artist delivered on a request from The New York Times for a drawing that subsequently turned into an almost two times a month artwork feature in the paper for the next 75 years.
His drawings are principally in the form of uniquely diverse black-and-white caricature.
“He was much more influenced by artists from the East than of the West,” said Leopold. He drew many famous people in the entertainment industry, such as Woody Allen, Bob Hope, and Barbra Streisand.
“It’s an amazing thing that Al Hirschfeld worked until basically the day before he died. His spring of creativity was almost inexhaustible,” said Louise Hirschfeld Cullman, wife of the late artist, theater historian, and president of the Al Hirschfeld Foundation.
The only artist to have a theater named after him and having works presented in many public collections, Hirschfeld has left behind quite a legacy.
The website www.AlHirschfeldFoundation.org launched on Monday in commemoration of the artist’s 108th birthday on June 21, has many of his works available for perusal.
The Auction
The array of the artist’s former belongings may attract more than just art and theater lovers. African and Asian art make up a fair amount of the property. They were gathered mostly in Hirschfeld’s travels and influenced his perspective greatly, according to Doyle.
“He thought that his decisive moment in his career happened in Bali, when he walked into the village of Denpasar, and the sun was so bright it bleached out all of the color, and all [he] saw were black and white line drawings walking around,” said Leopold.
“The shadow puppets that he encountered in Bali in 1992 turned out to be really an important influence on his work. If you look at his work, it’s all about black and white, light and dark. The gestures that he gives people are straight off the puppets.” Indeed, there are several sets of Indonesian tribal shadow puppets in the collection, as well as one group each of Indonesian and Asian masks.
There are plenty of his famous black-and-white drawings, featuring big names like Marilyn Monroe, Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, and Dolly Parton. Other works of Hirschfeld’s in the auction are some of the books his drawings are in, like one about speakeasies in the 1930s, and one titled “Harlem as Seen by Hirschfeld.”
Pieces of furniture include the Hirschfeld’s former dining room table, and one of the barber chairs the artist sat in to draw because of its flexibility.
“He thought that his decisive moment in his career happened in Bali, when he walked into the village of Denpasar, and the sun was so bright it bleached out all of the color, and all [he] saw were black and white line drawings walking around,” said Leopold.
“The shadow puppets that he encountered in Bali in 1992 turned out to be really an important influence on his work. If you look at his work, it’s all about black and white, light and dark. The gestures that he gives people are straight off the puppets.” Indeed, there are several sets of Indonesian tribal shadow puppets in the collection, as well as one group each of Indonesian and Asian masks.
There are plenty of his famous black-and-white drawings, featuring big names like Marilyn Monroe, Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, and Dolly Parton. Other works of Hirschfeld’s in the auction are some of the books his drawings are in, like one about speakeasies in the 1930s, and one titled “Harlem as Seen by Hirschfeld.”
Pieces of furniture include the Hirschfeld’s former dining room table, and one of the barber chairs the artist sat in to draw because of its flexibility.
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