Saturday, December 03, 2016

Al Hirschfeld Caricatures Pop Singers


UP TO 2,000 VIEWS, 15 COMMENTS

Pop singers, like many celebrities, need to be immortalized. One way is to use caricatures.
Al Hirschfeld, to me, is one of the greatest artist of his kind. Below are only a few of his work. He was a Hollywood great.  He must have been a happy and healthy caricaturist; he died at 99.

I used to check out his drawings from US entertainment magazines that I bought in the 50's and 60's and had fun trying to guess who the characters were.  Hirschfeld has become the only artist to have a Broadway theatre named after him.

 Selected at random from Google Images, do you know who these singers are? Most have gone away but some are still around.

What a Wonderful World from Louis Armstrong - 
An Official VIDEO from YouTube.

Hirschfeld’s 1999 picture of Liza Minnelli is his work in color. It is an achievement he often sought i.e. to capture a perfect likeness using minimum lines. He achieved Minnelli’s stance with only a line; his pen never left the page. Similarly with Sammy Davis Jr. above.

Fool On A Hill - Paul McCartney.
YouTube Video 3m014D



                        And the man himself, caricaturist Al Hirschfeld.

If you scored 12 out of 12, that's VERY GOOD but if you got less, you should read my blog more often.😄

Write out the answers on Comment page.

Disclaimer:
There is no intention to profit monetarily from these caricatures by Al Hirschfeld but only to show how he had influenced and entertained many senior Singaporeans who enjoyed his artistic talent. If, for any reason, these pictures are not for publication, please inform blogger by writing on the Comment page.

Images: Al Hirschfeld, Google.

12 comments:

  1. JAMES KWOK4.12.16

    Good morning Andy
    I got 10/10, and this is my favourite.

    (Sammy Davis Jr. with a You Tube video singing a song he made famous, 'Mr. Bojangles'.

    ReplyDelete
  2. My answers: 1. Dean and Jerry. 2 Elvis. 3. Carol chaning. 4. Sammy. 5. Cher. 6 Eartha Kitt? 7.Frank 8; Liza. Very well drawn caricatures. Good artist.

    ReplyDelete
  3. 3. MICK JAGGER 6. DIANA ROSS

    Thank you both for immediate response. I guess that closes the quiz but send in your comments as usual.

    Many of us love cartoons. Many of them come from other countries but I featured LAT from Malaysia on this blog who adores 60's music with his friend Frankie. Click Labels and you can read about him and his rock n roll friend.

    Soon I hope to feature our local Straits Times cartoonist PENG. Hopefully he will be available and open to readers and a blog like mine.

    ReplyDelete
  4. HENRI GANN (TREKKERS LEAD AND POST WRITER)8.12.16

    Your short article on caricature had me thinking of one of America's great political humorist "Art Buchwald " who passed away in 2007 and often had cartoons on his satirist comments.
    Here's what I think would be his caricature picture of our President elect :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Yes, I remember Buchwald but he doesn't have many cartoons on pop singers. Mostly political heavyweights.

    Thanks for comment Henri.

    ReplyDelete
  6. KEVIN8.12.16

    This information is impressive; I am inspired with your post writing style & how continuously you describe this topic. After reading your post, thanks for taking the time to discuss this, I feel happy about it and I love learning more about this topic.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Clareeese15.12.16

    Dear Mr Young,
    My name is Clarice and I'm a research intern with the National University Baba House. I'm doing some research work to lay the foundations for a prospective public program on Singapore music during the 20th century and came across your blog! It's great, there's so much to read!

    I was wondering if I can arrange an interview with you to find out more about you and the local music scene as you know it. If that's alright with you, please let me know when would be a good time! You can reach me at ___ .

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hi Clareeese,

    Will reply soon. Check your email, possibly by this evening.
    Cheers.

    ReplyDelete
  9. FACEBOOK CHATS4.7.21


    Stephen Han
    Louis Armstrong, Elvis Presley, Cher and Eric Clapton

    Andy Young
    Wow. Are you sure. Some more on the blog Stephen.
    THANKS

    Perry Koh
    Louis Armstrong, Elvis, Cher and Eric Clapton

    Andy Young
    Thanks all and SER KIONG for checking each one.

    Freda Hanum
    I just saw this Andy, on first sight I like these artwork, it's so unique and recognizable of stars, great musician and cartoonist indeed!

    Andy Young
    Hi Freda, glad you managed to browse the blog post.
    Not many people do.
    Answers are on Comment section below the post.
    THANKS

    ReplyDelete
  10. FACEBOOK7.7.21

    THANKS TO THE FOLLOWING WHO LIKE THIS POST
    Roop Singh
    Freda Hanum
    Ann Rowena Lim
    Jalani Mohamed
    Hiroshi Deguchi
    Koh Sui Pang
    Chow Wen Hing
    Jimmy Appudurai-chua
    Miguel Wanchai

    ReplyDelete
  11. FACEBOOK CHATS8.7.21

    Stephen Han
    Louis Armstrong,Elvis Presley, Cher and Eric Clapton.

    Andy Young
    Yes, Stephen.
    Did you see MICK JAGGER below and the others on the blog that include SINATRA, DMARTIN/JLEWIS, BEATLES, etc.
    Do check them out.
    Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  12. FACEBOOK CHATS8.7.21

    Stephen Han
    Yes I saw Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, Louis Armstrong, Elvis, Mick Jagger, Diana Ross, Lisa Minnelli, Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davies.

    Andy Young
    THANKS STEPHEN for your completing the list of star caricatures from AL HIRSCHFELD.
    You got them all.
    CHEERS.

    ReplyDelete