Caricature Builder

At 98, artist Al Hirschfeld still limns show folk with a sure hand

When Al Hirschfeld arrived with his family in New York City in 1915 at the age of 12, the Empire State Building had yet to be built. But his parents, who had run a candy store in St. Louis, Mo., hoped that the city would provide opportunities for their gifted son. Indeed it did. Virtually ever since, Hirschfeld has been drawing in his adopted hometown, and his caricatures of Broadway stars have become synonymous with the style and urbanity of the Big Apple. Two lustrous new books, Hirschfeld's New York and Hirschfeld's Hollywood, have just been published by Abrams. TIME recently...

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