HIRSCHFELD: STROKE OF GENIUS Exhibit Will Be Featured at Helicline Fine Art This Fall
The exhibition is on view from September 10 to November 12.
By: Chloe Rabinowitz Jul. 15, 2025
Helicline Fine Art will present its next exhibition, HIRSCHFELD: STROKES OF GENIUS, a glorious celebration of Al Hirschfeld's artwork. The exhibition includes more than four dozen original drawings and lithographs (all signed and numbered) depicting Broadway, Hollywood, TV, music and comedy. Beginning September 10 through November 2, works can be seen at online and at their midtown Manhattan gallery by appointment.
Hirschfeld's artwork is known for its seemingly simple flowing and elegant lines that capture the essence of performance, the elusive magic of Broadway and Hollywood, with minimal detail. Yet his drawings communicate volumes with each stroke. The legendary artist's pen immortalized generations of stage and screen icons.
Hirschfeld elevated simple caricature to interpretive expressionism, establishing a new visual language for modern art.
His work appeared in major publications for decades, including a 75-year relationship with The New York Times. His distinctive style has become recognizable to generations of art lovers and audiences.
“Al Hirschfeld holds a very special place in my heart” said gallery owner Keith Sherman. “Art is a second business for me, as my primary work is running a Times Square based PR firm. I represented Al for the last 15 years of his life and the Al Hirschfeld Foundation since it was formed more than two decades ago. I am over-the-moon excited about offering these classic Hirschfeld original drawings and lithographs.”
Many beloved stars and iconic images are featured in the exhibition, including: Judy Garland, Barbra Streisand, Bette Midler, Carol Channing, Gwen Verdon, Dinah Shore, Sidney Poitier, Abbott and Costello, Charlie Chaplin, “I Love Lucy,” Cher, Elvis, Sinatra, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, Barry Manilow, Beverly Sills, Bob Hope, Bogart & Bacall, Humphrey Bogart, Lauen Bacall, “Cabaret” with Liza Minnelli and Joel Grey, Clint Eastwood Duke Ellington, Greta Garbo, Marx Brothers, Katherine Hepburn, Jane Fonda, Jay Leno, Laurel & Hardy, Lena Horne, Looney Tunes, Mae West, Marlene Deitrich, Mary Tyler Moore and Dick Van Dyke, Marilyn Monroe and Clark Gable, “Phantom of the Opera,” Sammy Davis, Shirley MacLaine, Stephen Sondheim, and others.
In 1945, Hirschfeld celebrated the birth of his daughter Nina by placing her name in the background of a drawing. What the artist described as an innocent prank soon became a personal trademark and national obsession, as he began hiding numerous NINA's throughout his drawings for years.
The timing of HIRSCHFELD: STROKES OF GENIUS coincides with The Al Hirschfeld Foundation's new book, HIRSCHFELD'S SONDHEIM, which will be published by Harry Abrams Comic Arts on September 9. This first volume in a series of deluxe oversized 11 x 14-inch Hirschfeld poster books contains more than 50 drawings of Sondheim, and his best knows musicals, plays and films, including 25 full page images that can be easily removed and put right on a wall.
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