Artist · United States

1904 to 1986

Work

“cartoonist”

Portrait of Louis Hirshman
Born1904
Born inRussian Empire
CountryUnited States
Alsopainter
Died1986
Died inWest Philadelphia

Louis Hirshman.

cartoonist · painter

United States, 1904 to 1986

In short

Louis "Lou" Hirshman (1905 to 1986) was an American artist known for his witty and imaginative use of found objects for caricatures of celebrities and politicians, and in later years for scenes of everyday life. Unlike sketched or painted two-dimensional caricatures, these collages, known as constructions, are reliefs on glass-covered, framed flat boards created using common items and discarded junk, a genre that Bostonia magazine once dubbed the "Out-of-the-Ashcan School." His creations exaggerated the icons of his day, such as Adolf Hitler, Groucho Marx, John F. Kennedy, and Fidel Castro, depicting them with gloves, spools of thread, peanut shells, and chains. Hirshman's most famous artwork was arguably his 1940 representation of Albert Einstein, with the mathematician sporting a wild mop of hair, an abacus chest and shirt collar scribbled with the equation 2+2 = 2+2.

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Biodata

Born
1904, Russian Empire
Died
1986, West Philadelphia
Citizenship
United States
Work
cartoonist, painter
Career

Louis Hirshman, in numbers

Lifetime

Sketchbook

Portrait of Louis Hirshman