David Leopold | The Hirschfeld Century: Portrait of an Artist and His Age

Recorded Dec 7, 2015
Direct Download: 20151207-davidle.mp3

Al Hirschfeld redefined caricature with his mastery of line. His art appeared in every major publication during nine decades of the 20th and 21st centuries, as well as on numerous book, record, and program covers, film posters and publicity art, and on fifteen U.S. postage stamps. For an actor to be “Hirschfelded” in the drama pages of the New York Times, which Hirschfeld supplied with drawings for nearly 75 years, was a sign that he or she had arrived. In The Hirschfeld Century, archivist David Leopold brings together the influences, techniques, and evolution from Hirschfeld’s earliest works to his last drawings in a beautiful compendium of the artist’s oeuvre. Leopold has organized several landmark exhibitions on a variety of aspects of Hirschfeld’s art, including Hirschfeld’s Hollywood for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the current exhibit at the New York Historical Society.

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