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Al Hirschfeld Dies at 99
By Martha Graybow
 NEW
YORK (Reuters) Jan 20, 2003 - Albert Hirschfeld, a caricaturist
known for his drawings of performers from the Marx Brothers
to Jay Leno, died on Monday. He was 99. Hirschfeld died in
his sleep at his Manhattan home.
Hirschfeld, whose witty and graceful drawings appeared on
the pages of The New York Times for seven decades, was known
for instantly recognizable caricatures of Broadway and Hollywood
stars. His pointy pen strokes showed Katharine Hepburn with
hardly any eyes at all and talk show host Leno with a massive
chin.
"I come out of the theater with a lot of abstract little
markings that I then translate into line. The important thing
is that the drawing look a little bit like the actor I am
drawing. There is a lot of trial and error and a lot of erasing
until I can get it as far as I can, before the final inking.
It is not a pretty process," Hirschfeld told Reuters in a
1999 interview.
His work also appeared in books and the collections of museums
such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art in Manhattan.
Then 95, he said in the 1999 interview that he was finally
getting good at his work.
"After 70 years of drawing you have to improve, otherwise
you are a dolt. It is a question of elimination and understanding,
of trial and error, and suddenly something happens, an epiphany,"
he said.
The artist also was known for playfully hiding the word "Nina,"
the name of his daughter, in the lines of his drawings.
Many of his drawings include famous television personalities
like the casts of Star Trek and Doctor Who. He will be greatly
missed.
www.alhirschfeld.com
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