The Al Hirschfeld Foundation to Launch New Book and New Exhibition of Al Hirschfeld Artwork

On Tuesday September 9, The Al Hirschfeld Foundation will launch a new book, and a new exhibition of Al Hirschfeld artwork; Hirschfeld’s Sondheim, a beautifully curated new poster book celebrating one of the American Theater’s most prolific and celebrated composer/lyricists is available at bookstores everywhere on September 9, 2025. Also starting on September 9, “Strokes of Genius: Hirschfeld at the Algonquin” will be on exhibition in the hotel’s legendary Oak Room, September 9 – 20, daily from noon – 7PM.

More about the new book

Published by Abrams ComicArts, Hirschfeld’s Sondheim is available at bookstores everywhere on September 9, 2025. Hirschfeld’s Sondheim, is a beautifully curated new poster book, reflecting the legacy of one of the American Theater’s most prolific and celebrated composer/lyricists, Stephen Sondheim, through the pen of the legendary artist Al Hirschfeld. The first volume in a series of deluxe oversized 11 x 14-inch Hirschfeld poster books, Hirschfeld’s Sondheim is authored by Al Hirschfeld Foundation’s Creative Director David Leopold, features an introduction by Tony Award winner Bernadette Peters (Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends, Sunday in The Park With George, Into The Woods, Follies, A Little Night Music); a foreword by Ben Brantley, former chief theater critic for The New York Times; and 58 pages with more than 50 Al Hirschfeld drawings of Sondheim and his musicals, plays and films, including 25 full page images, ready-to-frame posters.

Hirschfeld’s Sondheim contains Hirschfeld art drawn from life before the opening night of each of Sondheim’s productions. All of Sondheim’s best-known plays are included — West Side Story, Follies, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Sweeney Todd, Merrily We Roll Along, and Sunday in the Park with George — in 25 ready-to-frame, removable art prints. All images are scanned from the archives of the Al Hirschfeld Foundation. There are also previously unpublished works including a triple portrait of Sondheim, George Gershwin and Jerome Kern. The innovative format of Hirschfeld’s Sondheim allows readers to see the works as never before. The twenty-five removable posters in this book also include rare ancillary images from the archives and extensive commentary. Now for the first time, these artworks are presented as a stunning coffee table book at an accessible price point, making Hirschfeld’s works widely available to his and Sondheim’s fans

 
More about the new exhibition, "STROKES OF GENIUS: HIRSCHFELD AT THE ALGONQUIN"

The Algonquin Hotel, Autograph Collection (59 W. 44th St, NYC) for a new exhibition of artwork by the legendary artist Al Hirschfeld. “Strokes of Genius: Hirschfeld at the Algonquin” will be on exhibition in the hotel’s legendary Oak Room, September 9 – 20, daily from noon – 7PM, featuring original drawings and hand signed limited edition prints from the worlds of the stage, screen, and concert hall. All artwork is available for purchase. The exhibition at The Algonquin marks the first New York City gallery exhibition of Al Hirschfeld’s work in over ten years.

“Strokes of Genius: Hirschfeld at the Algonquin” features over two dozen works by the legendary artist including Judy Garland at The Palace; Yul Brynner and Gertrude Lawrence in The King and I; Gwen Verdon in Redhead; Tony Curtis and Sidney Poitier in The Defiant Ones; Ethel Waters, Howard Deitz, Bea Lillie and more backstage At Home Abroad; Carol Burnett, Gershwin and more. In celebration of the release of the new book, Hirschfeld’s Sondheim, the exhibition will include a special display of Sondheim-related pieces including original drawings of Do I Hear a Waltz? and Robert Westenberg in Sunday in the Park with George; lithographs of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum with Nathan Lane, Passion, Putting It Together, and a Sondheim 1977 portrait signed by Hirschfeld; an etching of Gypsy with Ethel Merman; and giclées of Julie Andrews in Putting it Together signed by Julie Andrews (edition of 15), and a Sondheim 1999 portrait signed by Sondheim (one of only four in existence).

“With ‘Strokes of Genius: Hirschfeld at the Algonquin, we are thrilled to make this Al Hirschfeld artwork available in a gallery exhibition for the first time in well-over a decade in New York City.” says Al Hirschfeld Foundation’s Creative Director David Leopold. “Dozens of works, originals and lithographs, will be on display for the public to view, and perhaps, to purchase for their own personal collections”