Al Hirschfeld - New York Times Drama Section (11/24/40) - The Corn Is Green

While not technically comic art, it is pretty close. Al Hirschfeld was famous for his New York Times illustrations, which ran from the mid 1920's up until he died in the early 2000's. I saw a museum exhibition of Hirschfeld art several years ago and I've wanted to own a piece ever since.

I really liked this example from 1940 as it features his distinctive style, but also a detailed background with blue ink wash -- typical for the era, but not seen in Hirschfeld's later work. This was given as a gift by the artist to cartoonist Jack Kent, best known for the King Aroo comic strip. Per Heritage, this stayed in Kent's family until they auctioned it off in 2020.

The art itself features the original Broadway cast of Emlyn Williams' The Corn Is Green, a semi-autobiographical drama of Wales' impoverished coal-mining populace. Pictured from left are Mildred Dunnock, Edmund Breon, Rhys Williams, Thelma Schnee, Ethel Barrymore, and Richard Waring. The art came with the actual clipping from the Times from 1940 and I've included a scan.

There are no hidden Ninas in this piece as this was drawn 5 years before she was born :)