Al Hirschfeld: Full obit
Posted: Tuesday, January 21st, 2003 11:50 pm
Al Hirschfeld, whose inimitable caricatures captured the vivid personalities of theater people and their performances for more than 75 years, died at his home in Manhattan yesterday. He was 99.
To be the subject of a Hirschfeld drawing endowed one with a special cachet. To find the word “Nina,” the name of his daughter, hidden several times in the lines of his caricatures, was a weekend pastime for millions of readers. Next to his signature he put the number of “Ninas” in his drawings, creating a sort of pleasurable Sunday game for his admirers.
In a career that spanned the 20th century, he probably saw more shows than anyone else. He drew a vast and imaginative portrait of the performing artists of his lifetime, particularly in the theater. He was a familiar figure at first nights and at rehearsals, where he had perfected the technique of making a sketch in the dark, using a system of shorthand notations that contributed to the finished product.
His art was compared by critics to that of Daumier and Toulouse-Lautrec but, ultimately, it was Hirschfeld, cannily perceptive, wittily amusing and benignly pointed. … Read full obituary
