Hirschfeld's Harlem: Manhattan's Legendary Artist Illustrates This Legendary City Within a City (Applause Books) - Hardcover

Hirschfeld, Al

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1557835179 ISBN 13: 9781557835178

Publisher: Glenn Young Books, 2003

Synopsis

Decades before the PBS documentaries, before Bill Clinton, Al Hirschfeld went to Harlem. No artist ever captured Harlem's dangerous highs and bluesy lows like this Master of the Performing Curve. Hirschfeld began his artistic Harlem odyssey six decades ago, charting that legendary New York neighborhood's special rhythms and moods in splashy feverish hues. Hirschfeld's Harlem opens onto a special portfolio of these full-color works, a pictorial essay of the Swing Era. Wynton Marsalis, Quincy Jones, Lena Horne and Harry Belafonte, among a dozen other Harlem artists and critics, supply accompanying commentary, reminiscences and analysis – each voice focusing on one portrait.

Then it's back to Hirschfeld in his signature black and white takes on forty Harlem artists and public figures: Gregory Hines, Duke Ellington, James Earl Jones, Ethel Waters and dozens more – all have been caught in the creative act by one of our greatest artists. Each drawing is accompanied by a thumbnail narrative by Hirschfeld about the most famous inhabitants and transients of these fabled streets. Hirschfeld's Harlem opens a picture window into nearly a century of Black American artistry and life.

About this title

From the Author:

"I have been so continuously enchanted with the Harlem I had grown up near and visited my whole life. . .Harlem people just keep on rising above whatever met them at eye level; regardless of the rugged terrain or the economic weather, Harlem residents had their own means of levitation. They performed an art form beyond the Arts, beyond the stage, beyond the Cotton Club. Very real people meeting reality head on and then stubbornly transcending it. Some commentators have made much of the fact that these aren’t Hirschfeld's typical performers. Well, they’re not on the stretch of Broadway I had covered before or since. But these Harlemites are performers all right. They are in rehearsal for the performance of their lives. It’s that grand profound ritual I hope to have captured here."

-Al Hirschfeld, January 2003, from his preface, Drawing on Harlem

About the Author:

The late great Al Hirschfeld was designated a “Living Legend” by the Library of Congress. The United States Post Office has issued 15 stamps with Hirschfeld drawings. He is the recipient of two Tony Awards for Lifetime Achievement. His work has been prominently featured in The New York Times for nearly 75 years. He has been represented in exhibitions at major art museums and institutions, including the Smithsonian's National Portrait gallery, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Whitney Museum, The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and The Museum of the City of New York. His Hirschfeld On Line was published by Applause Books.

About this edition

• Publisher: Glenn Young Books
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 1557835179
• ISBN 13: 9781557835178
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 128