Caricaturist Al Hirschfeld, whose works appeared to popular acclaim in the New York Times for decades, was born on June 21, 1903 in St. Louis, Missouri. As a teenager he working at Selznick Movie Studios in Hollywood and then moved to Paris to study drawing, painting and sculpture. He returned to America in the 1930s and began drawing caricatures of famous individuals for the New York Times. His caricatures of popular actors, actresses, musicians, popular culture personalities (i.e. the characters in Star Trek) and politicians were hugely popular with New York Times readers for decades.
Al Hirschfeld died January 20, 2013.
And I think one can sum up the popularity of Al Hirschfeld’s work by simply saying Al Hirschfeld’s caricatures are fun!
Here’s a link to Al Hirschfeld New York Times obituary which offers a nice overview of his life:
A link to a page on the Al Hirschfeld Foundation site that shows one of his drawings of the Beatles.
http://www.alhirschfeldfoundation.org/piece/beatles-abbey-road
And another link on the Al Hirschfeld site which shows you one of his Star Trek cast caricatures:
http://www.alhirschfeld.com/cgi-bin/popup?ID=TREK&CAT=A1
And on a northern hemisphere note – and not an American history note at all -today is the first day of summer – hurray! Let us all get out our sun glasses and grills and celebrate the season!
Have a great weekend!
Linda R.
References
Shepard, Richard., & Gussow, Mel. (2003, January 21). Al Hirschfeld, 99 Dies, He Drew Broadway. The New York Times. Online. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/21/theater/al-hirschfeld-99-dies-he-drew-broadway.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm
Al Hirschfeld. Spartacus Educational. Online. Accessed June 21, 2013. http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/ARThirschfeld.htm
Al Hirschfeld biography. Biography. Online. Accessed June 21, 2013. http://www.biography.com/people/al-hirschfeld-9339897
Shepard, Richard., & Gussow, Mel. (2003, January 21). Al Hirschfeld, 99 Dies, He Drew Broadway. The New York Times. Online. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/21/theater/al-hirschfeld-99-dies-he-drew-broadway.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm
Star Trek. Al Hirschfeld. Online. Accessed June 21, 2013. http://www.alhirschfeld.com/cgi-bin/popup?ID=TREK&CAT=A1
The American Dream Starts @ The Southeast Steuben County Library 