The Sheldon Art Galleries in St. Louis announces the opening of a major retrospective exhibition, Al Hirschfeld's Jazz and Broadway Scrapbook," as part of The Sheldon's 100th anniversary celebration on Friday, September 7, 2012. Free wine and hors d'oeuvres will be served from 5 – 7 p.m. Part of First Fridays in Grand Center, the Galleries will be open until 9:00 p.m.
A public event, "In Conversation: David Leopold and Louise Hirschfeld" will be held on Saturday, September 8, from 10:30 – 11:30 a.m. David Leopold, Archivist, Al Hirschfeld Foundation, and curator of the exhibition Al Hirschfeld's Jazz and Broadway Scrapbook will share stories and with Al Hirschfeld's wife and historian Louise Hirschfeld, illuminating the life and career of the illustrious artist. Sheldon Concert Hall, admission free.
Al Hirschfeld's Jazz and Broadway Scrapbook, the first major retrospective of the artist to be mounted in his hometown, will feature more than 100 original drawings, paintings, prints, collages, posters and ephemera from his long and important career, and reveals a heretofore unexplored, lifelong fascination with jazz. In addition to his artwork, the installation will feature his specially-made stereo system, his extensive jazz record collection, and African drums and Balinese shadow puppets from his home. The works are drawn from the collections of the Hirschfeld Foundation Archives; the Harry Ransom Center, University of Texas, Austin; the Saint Louis Art Museum; and the Whitney Museum of American Art.
Hirschfeld's name is synonymous with Broadway theatre. His signature work, defined by a linear calligraphic style, is serious graphic composition, informed by a distinctly modern aesthetic, and leavened by wit. Bringing a new set of visual conventions to the task of performance portraiture when he made his debut in 1926 at the height of the Jazz Age, Hirschfeld enriched and intensified the viewing experience, communicating volumes in a single stroke. The greatest stars of screen and stage clamored to be captured by the "Line King." The list of personalities that he has rendered is a veritable Who's Who of Broadway theatre, Hollywood films, and jazz music: Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, Lena Horne, Josephine Baker, Julie Andrews, Rex Harrison, Liza Minnelli, Joel Grey, Leonardo DiCaprio, Daniel Day Lewis, Cameron Diaz, Liam Neeson and Martin Scorsese are all rendered in Hirschfeld's distinctively bold, curvy line drawings.
The exhibition features drawings from as early as 1914 through 2002,. Beginning with a career overview, the first section of the exhibit features one of his earliest extant works, a beautiful drawing of the Clark Public school in St. Louis, as well as a rich panoply of some of his most iconic works, including portraits of Carol Channing and Laurel and Hardy. A separate section of the exhibit focuses on his work in jazz and includes luminaries such as Jelly Roll Morton, Johnny Mercer, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington and Benny Goodman, among many others. "Al Hirschfeld recorded jazz like no LP, tape, compact disk, or MP3 ever has," says curator and Hirschfeld archivist David Leopold. "Like his subjects, he improvised with pen and ink, taking basic forms and transmuting them to make an altogether beguiling portrait of jazz."
