Drawings of Beatles and Lennon discovered in Al Hirschfeld archives
Rarely seen drawings of the Beatles from 1964 and John Lennon (circa 1968 ) created by legendary artist Al Hirschfeld are
now available for viewing and purchase. Al Hirschfeld, who for 80 years had his drawings exhibited throughout the world, passed away in early 2003 at the age of 99, leaving a void in the art world. His works were featured in publications such as the New York Times, TV Guide, the New Yorker, Rolling Stone and countless others. His art is on exhibition at the Smithsonian, the National Portrait Gallery, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Whitney Museum, The Museum of Modern Art and many other museums and institutions in the United States, Europe and Asia.
Now six years after his passing, the Hirschfeld Estate has authorized a series of six never-before published limited edition Hirschfeld drawings featuring Classic Rock icons highlighted by images of The Beatles and John Lennon. Other Classic Rockers comprised in the series of drawings include Elton John, Bruce Springsteen, Eric Clapton and Crosby, Stills & Nash. The Classic Rock Suite is published by Celebrity Arts. The edition is limited to only 100 numbered copies and includes the Hirschfeld Estate Seal. Hirschfeld's first ever drawing of the Beatles, created in May 1964 just three months after the Beatles arrival in the United States, is one of the highlights of the Classic Rock Suite. Another favorite is Hirschfeld's 1968 drawing of John Lennon. The original of this piece hung in Hirschfeld's studio for decades. David Leopold, Hirschfeld archivist, comments, "We went on an extensive search to find perfect images for the new posthumous releases from Mr. Hirschfeld. The Classic Rock images that we selected are spectacular and capture everything that is great about Hirschfeld."