Independent Arts News Reporting Hirschfeld’s Sondheim, A New Poster Book Celebrates Stephen Sondheim, Through the Pen of Al Hirschfeld
Reported Thursday, July 24, 2025.
Pictured Above: Al Hirschfeld Lithograph. Photo Credit: Bonhams.com
NEWSROOM POST: NEW YORK, NEW YORK & DOYLESTOWN, PA
Hirschfeld’s Sondheim contains Hirschfeld art drawn from life before the opening night of each of Sondheim’s productions.
NEW YORK, NY – This fall, Hirschfeld’s Sondheim, beautifully curated new poster book, celebrates 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. Published by Abrams ComicArts, Hirschfeld’s Sondheim will be available at bookstores everywhere on September 9, 2025.
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 There are also previously unpublished works including a triple portrait of Sondheim, George Gershwin and Jerome Kern.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.
“It’s hard to imagine twentieth century Broadway without either Hirschfeld or Sondheim,” says author David Leopold. “Both men admired each other’s work, and both loved the theater, their legacies strengthened by remaining a presence on the Great White Way with two Broadway houses named in their honor. Hirschfeld drew his first Sondheim show in 1957 when Sondheim wrote the lyrics to West Side Story. He captured almost all of Sondheim’s stage productions and films. Sondheim was also a Hirschfeld collector, acquiring show drawings either directly from the artist or through his friends and collaborators like Hal Prince. Sondheim’s last interview just five days before his death included a photo of Sondheim at home with Hirschfeld’s Putting it Together on the wall in the background.”
“This keepsake treasure book is graced with 50 remarkable drawings spanning Steve’s most acclaimed works,” writes frequent Sondheim collaborator, Bernadette Peters in her Introduction. “I can hardly think of a better way to memorialize Steve and his art other than actually watching his shows or listening to his songs. Al in a single image captures a memorable emotion indelibly etching our hearts and memories with Steve’s artistic contributions.”
In his foreword for Hirschfeld’s Sondheim, longtime New York Times theater critic Ben Brantley points out, “Hirschfeld’s images capture the essence of the performances even better than the photographs of the shows. Hirschfeld’s drawings and Sondheim’s works are almost inextricably linked in the minds of theater lovers everywhere. Ever since Sondheim’s death in November 2021, his work and legacy have been enjoying a resurgence of appreciation, with productions like the recent Broadway revivals of Merrily We Roll Along, Company, and Into the Woods, and this season’s Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends.”
In the coming weeks, the Al Hirschfeld Foundation will announce a series of special events around the country, celebrating the publication of Hirschfeld’s Sondheim.
About Al Hirschfeld
Al Hirschfeld’s drawings stand as one of the most innovative efforts in establishing the visual language of modern art through caricature in the 20th century. A self-described “characterist,” his signature work, defined by a linear calligraphic style, appeared in virtually every major publication of the last nine decades (including a 75-year relationship with The New York Times) as well as numerous book and record covers and 15 postage stamps. Hirschfeld said his contribution was to take the character, created by the playwright and portrayed by the actor, and reinvent it for the reader. Playwright Terrence McNally wrote: “No one ‘writes’ more accurately of the performing arts than Al Hirschfeld. He accomplishes on a blank page with his pen and ink in a few strokes what many of us need a lifetime of words to say.” In 1945, Hirschfeld celebrated the birth of his daughter Nina by placing her name in the background of a drawing. What the artist described as an innocent prank soon became a personal trademark and national obsession, as he began hiding numerous NINA’s throughout his drawings for years to come. He is represented in many public collections, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the National Portrait Gallery, and Harvard’s Theater Collection. Hirschfeld authored several books including Manhattan Oases and Show Business is No Business in addition to 10 collections of his work. He was declared a Living Landmark by the New York City Landmarks Commission in 1996, and a Living Legend by The Library of Congress in 2000. Just before his death in January 2003, he learned he was to be awarded the Medal of Arts from the National Endowment of the Arts and inducted into the Academy of Arts and Letters. The winner of two Tony Awards, he was given the ultimate Broadway accolade on what would have been his 100th birthday in June 2003. The Martin Beck Theater was renamed the Al Hirschfeld Theater.
