Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Al Hirschfeld was a renowned illustrator and caricaturist. Hirschfeld’s lifelong passion for the performing arts married his distinctive style with the vibrant personalities of New York’s theater scene. He was able to capture the character of his subjects with a simple line drawing. He recorded personalities as illustrious and diverse as Ella Fitzgerald, Duke Ellington, Ernest Hemingway, Jerry Garcia, and Liza Minnelli, among many others, in a career spanning most of the twentieth century. Hirschfeld’s works were featured in several prominent publications including the New York Times, The New Yorker, and Rolling Stone. His portraits of Hollywood stars were also featured in several series of postage stamps in the United States.
Ira Jan created this hagiographical depiction of her lover Chaim Nahman Bialik being anointed by angels as a child shortly before she was deported by Ottoman authorities to Egypt. Her romantic…