Special Offer from American Express Cardholders Only

Exclusive portfolio of limited-edition prints accompanied by Certificates of Authenticity from the Al Hirschfeld Foundation. 

Tentatively the 9 x 11-inch prints would include:

• West Side Story, 1957
• Sweeney Todd, 1979
• Self-portrait, 2002 (his last one, previously unpublished)

• Two volumes of Hirschfeld’s greatest theater drawings
• A portfolio of three limited-edition prints
• Certificates of Authenticity
• All housed in a handsome, collectible slipcase. 

If you could buy these items individually, the price would be close to $1,200.00. 

For American Express cardholders exclusively, 

The American Theatre as seen by Hirschfeld gift box set is available for pre-order at $399.00. 

Available by August 2022.

The name Al Hirschfeld has been virtually synonymous with American Theatre since his first theatrical drawing was published in December 1926. For the next eight decades, he was an indispensable part of the theater experience in America. Hirschfeld’s art, appearing in newspapers, magazines, cast albums, programs, and posters, was so iconic that one historian called it “the logo of the American Theatre.”  Drawn from life, sketched often in out-of-town tryouts or rehearsals, and frequently published the Sunday before a production opened, Hirschfeld’s drawings were as much a part of a Broadway show as opening night. They are instantly recognizable to people from all walks of life and at any age. One critic wrote “in the theatre, the caricatures of Hirschfeld require his name no more than Broadway needs a street sign.” He was eventually given the ultimate theatre accolade when a Broadway theater was renamed for the artist in 2003. 

In 1961, a book of Hirschfeld’s theatre drawings, The American Theatre as seen by Hirschfeld (left) was published by George Braziller. It included over 25o images. covering Hirschfeld’s first 40 years, with iconic sketches of West Side Story, Carousel, A Streetcar Named Desire, Damn Yankees, Long Day’s Journey into Night, Camelot, My Fair Lady, Waiting for Godot, Guys and Dolls, The King and I, and The Glass Menagerie. The artist selected the images and designed the book, and naturally, it was his favorite collection of his work. It was for many others as well, winning rave reviews and going through several editions. It is now highly prized by collectors today, with copies in good condition starting at $150.00. Just before Hirschfeld died in 2003, he started to make plans to put together a sequel that would cover the other 40 years of his career, but the project was shelved with his passing until now. 

The new American Theatre as seen by Hirschfeld 1962-2002 book showcases Hirschfeld’s greatest theater work from five decades, including some of the most important productions from the last sixty years such as Hello Dolly, Fiddler on the Roof, Funny Girl, Cabaret, Annie, Sweeney Todd, Sunday in the Park with George, Cats, Les Misérables, Fences, Phantom of the Opera, Chicago, Rent, Angels in America, and Hairspray. This collection takes you backstage with portraits of Stephen Sondheim, Tom Stoppard, Neil Simon, Edward Albee, Wendy Wasserstein, Geoffrey Holder, Andrew Lloyd Webber, and Michael Grief. With something for every type of theatergoer, this is the book theater lovers have been waiting for.

 For American Express members we created a special, limited edition two-volume, slip cased edition of both books, including more than 500 of Hirschfeld’s greatest theater drawings covering nearly a century of the American Theatre. It is the ultimate collection of the legendary artist’s most acclaimed work. The first volume will be republished with updated and expanded content, and each two-volume collection will also include three prints of historic works from the books that will be suitable for framing. Each print will come with a certificate of authenticity from The Al Hirschfeld Foundation. The prints will be in a special portfolio that will only be included in this exclusive slipcase edition of the books. For the price of two tickets on Broadway, theater lovers can have front row seats to nine decades of American Theatre. All drawn by an artist so integral with Broadway that there’s a theater named for him.

No one saw more opening nights on Broadway than Hirschfeld, and the American  Theatre as seen by Hirschfeld collection shows his archive of drawings as a contemporaneous account, literally drawn from life, of the productions and performers who helped shaped our popular culture over much of the 20th century, and into the 21st.