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Review: The Hirschfeld Century at NYHS


The first thing one notices walking through "The Hirschfeld Century," the uniformly excellent new exhibit at the New-York Historical Society celebrating the work of Al Hirschfeld: This man could draw eyebrows like nobody's business.

Sometimes they are drawn with a single line; a pair of shockingly expressive arches. Other times, like his seamless portait of Richard Kiley in Man of La Mancha they take on a life of their own, their mammoth-like bushiness conveyed with a tangle of elegant lines and a healthy shake of Seussian grandeur. 

The works represented span the whole of Hirschfeld's nearly 80 year career, from his early days as an errand boy for (and later art director at) Selznick Pictures to his last years when he was still as prolific as ever. There is a group of portraits he created in the last 18 months of his life, and as David Leopold, author of the accompanying book The Hirschfeld Century from Knopf, said at the opening: "Most artists, it take a few years for them to find their style, then they hit their peak, then is the inevitable decline. That's not the case with Hirschfeld." And indeed, his late work is masterly, brimming with the confidence and ease of an artist still firmly in their prime.

On view are many of his famous theatrical drawings, depicting scenes from the original productions of Guys and Dolls, West Side Story and other classics. They stand alongside some of his early work for Selznick and some of his iconic celebrity portraiture (Ringo Starr, Groucho Marx and more). There's even a replica of Hirschfeld's old barber chair that he used to write from everyday, along with an Etch-a-Sketch-like pad that lets users attempt to re-create Hirschfeld's "simple" style. (Newsflash: it ain't easy).

In reference to that so-called simple style, Leopold quoted Hirschfeld as saying, "when I'm in a rush, I make a complicated drawing. When I take my time, I make a simple drawing."

The Hirschfeld Century, is on view May 22-Oct 12 at the New-York Historical Society, 170 Central Park West (at 76th St.), nyhistory.org.

All images © The Al Hirschfeld Foundation.

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