THE AL HIRSCHFELD WINDOW

Wow! Mike just sent me some pictures of a terrific window display in the Al Hirschfeld Theatre in Manhattan. That's Hirschfeld above, seated in the barber chair he did most of his later caricatures in. Someone...I've gotta find out who...did a bang-up job of transforming Hirschfeld's self-caricature into sculpture. Can somebody out there find more work for this artist? I want to see more exhibits like this!

For comparison, here's (above) the original pen and ink caricature that the window image is based on.

Here's (above) how the window looks at night...

...and here's (above) the same window in the daytime. I see Audry Hepburn, Woody Allen, Bernadette Peters, Marilyn Monroe, Whoopi Goldberg and Carol Channing, among others. My guess is that some of these were done by a different artist than the one who did Hirschfeld but I could be wrong. 

Yikes! A rear 3/4 shot reveals a few of the perspective cheats.

Above, more perspective cheats revealed.

Above, a close-up. The head looks like it might be flattened a bit like a bas relief, but I'm not sure.  If it is that was good choice since that approach makes it easier to subordinate the details to the need to emphasize line. I wish I could find an interview with the sculptor. 

Some of the framed pictures (above) behind Hirschfeld have 3 Dimansional elements.

The theatre's housed in the same building as the old Beck Theatre. When it was built it was the biggest vaudeville theatre in New York. Now it's home to lavish Broadway plays. 

I love the way the sign looks at night (above), though I'm not sure this photo does it justice. 

That's all I have to say about this. Thanks, Mike! 

   

The Flickr link: http://www.flickriver.com/photos93779577@n00/sets/72157637743809794/