The Line King's Library
One of Al Hirschfeld's famous caricatures of Broadway shows--in this case, "My Fair Lady"
Thursday, October 17, 2013 through Saturday, January 4, 2014
Program Locations:
New York Public Library for the Performing
Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center, Shelby Cullom Davis Museum,
Donald and Mary Oenslager Gallery (Map and directions)
Fully accessible to wheelchairs
Donald & Mary Oenslager Gallery
Al Hirschfeld’s career began at Goldwyn Pictures in
1920 across the street from the main branch of the New York Public
Library, and over the next nine decades, Hirschfeld and the Library grew
even closer. Hirschfeld availed himself of The Library’s book and
picture collections, he attended its events, and was a
lifelong supporter. Over the years, the Library has collected original
Hirschfeld drawings, paintings, and prints, and its shelves are filled
with books and publications featuring Hirschfeld artwork (including
fifty years of the Best Plays series), as well as posters, album covers,
and all manner of ephemera. His barber chair and drawing table, where
he created virtually all of his work, now greets visitors to The New
York Public Library for the Performing Arts on the plaza of Lincoln
Center.
Al Hirschfeld (1903 – 2003) brought a new set of
visual conventions to the task of performance portraiture when he made
his debut in 1926. His signature work, defined by a linear calligraphic
style, made his name a verb: to be "Hirschfelded" was a sign that one
has arrived. Hirschfeld said his contribution was to take the character,
created by the playwright and portrayed by the actor, and reinvent it
for the reader. Playwright Terrence McNally wrote: "No one 'writes' more
accurately of the performing arts than Al Hirschfeld. He accomplishes
on a blank page with his pen and ink in a few strokes what many of us
need a lifetime of words to say."
Now for the first time, the largest library
collection of Hirschfeld artwork and archival material will be brought
together in a new exhibition, The Line King’s Library: Al Hirschfeld at The New York Public Library, in the Oenslager Gallery at The New
York Public Library for the Performing Arts to commemorate the 110th
anniversary of Al Hirschfeld’s birth, and to celebrate the latest gift
of Hirschfeld papers and objects
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