AL HIRSCHFELD
Name: Albert Hirschfeld
Born: 21 June 1903 St. Louis, Missouri
Died: 20 January 2003 New York City, NY
Albert Hirschfeld (June 21, 1903 - January 20, 2003) was a Jewish American
caricaturist best known for his simple black and white satirical portraits of
celebrities and Broadway stars.
Born in St. Louis, Missouri he moved with his family to New York City where he
received his art training at the Art Students League of New York. In 1924 he
traveled to Paris and London, where he studied painting, drawing and sculpture.
When he returned to the United States a friend showed one of his drawings to an
editor at the New York Herald Tribune, which got him commissions for that
newspaper and The New York Times.
Hirschfeld's art style is unique, and he is considered to be one of the most
important figures in contemporary caricature, having influenced countless
cartoonists. Hirschfeld's caricatures are almost always drawings of pure line
with simple black ink on white paper with little to no shading or crosshatching.
His drawings always manage to capture a likeness using the minimum number of
lines. Though his caricatures often exaggerate and distort the faces of his
subjects he is often described as being a fundamentally "nicer" caricaturist
than many of his contemporaries, and being drawn by Hirschfeld was considered an
honor more than an insult. Nonetheless he did face some complaints from his
editors over the years; in a late-1990s interview with The Comics Journal
Hirschfeld recounted how one editor told him his drawings of Broadway's "beautiful
people" looked like "a bunch of animals". Hirschfeld generally dismissed these
complaints, and most observers would agree that time proved him right.
He was commissioned by CBS to illustrate a preview magazine featuring the
network's new TV programming in fall 1963. One of the programs was Candid Camera,
and Hirschfeld's caricature of the show's host Allen Funt outraged Funt so much
he threatened to leave the network if the magazine were issued. Hirschfeld
prepared a slightly different likeness, perhaps more flattering, but he and the
network pointed out to Funt that the artwork prepared for newspapers and some
other print media had been long in preparation and it was too late to withdraw
it. Funt relented but insisted that what could be changed would have to be.
Newsweek ran a squib on the controversy.
Name: Albert Hirschfeld
Born: 21 June 1903 St. Louis, Missouri
Died: 20 January 2003 New York City, NY
Albert Hirschfeld (June 21, 1903 - January 20, 2003) was a Jewish American
caricaturist best known for his simple black and white satirical portraits of
celebrities and Broadway stars.
Born in St. Louis, Missouri he moved with his family to New York City where he
received his art training at the Art Students League of New York. In 1924 he
traveled to Paris and London, where he studied painting, drawing and sculpture.
When he returned to the United States a friend showed one of his drawings to an
editor at the New York Herald Tribune, which got him commissions for that
newspaper and The New York Times.
Hirschfeld's art style is unique, and he is considered to be one of the most
important figures in contemporary caricature, having influenced countless
cartoonists. Hirschfeld's caricatures are almost always drawings of pure line
with simple black ink on white paper with little to no shading or crosshatching.
His drawings always manage to capture a likeness using the minimum number of
lines. Though his caricatures often exaggerate and distort the faces of his
subjects he is often described as being a fundamentally "nicer" caricaturist
than many of his contemporaries, and being drawn by Hirschfeld was considered an
honor more than an insult. Nonetheless he did face some complaints from his
editors over the years; in a late-1990s interview with The Comics Journal
Hirschfeld recounted how one editor told him his drawings of Broadway's "beautiful
people" looked like "a bunch of animals". Hirschfeld generally dismissed these
complaints, and most observers would agree that time proved him right.
He was commissioned by CBS to illustrate a preview magazine featuring the
network's new TV programming in fall 1963. One of the programs was Candid Camera,
and Hirschfeld's caricature of the show's host Allen Funt outraged Funt so much
he threatened to leave the network if the magazine were issued. Hirschfeld
prepared a slightly different likeness, perhaps more flattering, but he and the
network pointed out to Funt that the artwork prepared for newspapers and some
other print media had been long in preparation and it was too late to withdraw
it. Funt relented but insisted that what could be changed would have to be.
Newsweek ran a squib on the controversy.