The Artist and His Model194544 x 34 " (111.8 x 86.4 cm)
Frame: 47 x 37 x 2 1/4 " (119.4 x 94 x 5.7 cm)Oil on canvasGift of David L. Davies, © Robert and Gail Rentzer for Estate of Morris Hirshfield, licensed by VAGA, New York, NY2002.23.111540542681P6.2000.001Morris HirshfieldPaintings© Robert and Gail Rentzer for Estate of Morris Hirshfield / Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), New Yorklower right: 'M. HIRSHFIELD - 1945’ United StatesNew YorkPaintingsBorn to a German mother and a Russian-Polish Jewish father, Morris Hirshfield was among the large group of eastern Europeans who immigrated to the United States around the turn of the century. He settled in New York City and, like thousands of others, became a garment worker. Eventually he went into business with his brother, first as a cloak and suit manufacturer, and then, after marrying, as the largest manufacturer of boudoir slippers in New York City (E.Z. Walk Manufacturing Company). In 1937, Hirshfield retired and began to paint, ultimately completing seventy-six canvases. His favorite subjects were women and animals. He sometimes made preliminary sketches and arranged them on canvas as he would a pattern for a garment. Characteristic of his style are bold patterns, bright colors, and fabric-like textures painted in a flattened style.
Anyone who suggests that self-taught artists are not conscious of themselves as artists may be surprised at Hirshfield’s masterpiece, The Artist and His Model, in which the mustachioed artist, palette in one hand and brushes in the other, portrays his fantasy—an artist painting a nude model. In this work, a typical Hirshfield painting of a cat hangs on the wall above the artist’s head. By the time this was painted, just months before his death, Hirshfield had already been represented by an agent and included in gallery shows and two Museum of Modern Art exhibitions.
In The Artist and His Model, Hirshfield presents an idealized vision of the human female. The nude figure stands frontally on a geometrically patterned pedestal and holds a gilded staff in one diminutive hand, her long hair falling below her shoulders. Her amply proportioned body suggests stiff dressmaker forms of the 1920s. The stylized curve of the pubic area and navel perfectly mimics the breasts above. Hirshfield never used a live model, saying “that wouldn’t be proper at my age.” This painting is an erotic fantasy of longing and desire, yet the yearning is tempered by reticence. The fastidious formal dress of the artist and the patterning of the interior and furnishings are a lively counterpoint to the model’s smooth flesh, sharply outlined in black. In La pensée sauvage (The Savage Mind), the anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss contrasted the concept of bricolage, a construction that results from tinkering with materials that happen to be available, to the methods of the engineer, which rely on the systematic use of a set of basic tools belonging to a specific science. Self-taught artists generally adopt the first creative process: unshaped by artistic conventions, their works display unexpected approaches to themes and usages. Morris Hirshfield’s art exemplifies this mindset: after a long illness that precipitated his retirement in 1937, he began to paint, applying to his art the techniques of the garment and slipper manufacturing in which he had been professionally involved. He made preparatory large-scale drawings—as if they were patterns for clothing to be assembled after cutting—sketching outlines of the major forms before he began to paint. His knowledge of textiles is visible in his paintings through a decorative repertoire of ornate fabric, striped upholstery, and embroidered clothing.
Valérie Rousseau, “The Artist and His Model,” exhibition label for Self-Taught Genius: Treasures from the American Folk Art Museum. Stacy C. Hollander and Valérie Rousseau, curators. New York: American Folk Art Museum, 2014.
Object information is a work in progress and may be updated with new research. Records are reviewed and revised, and the American Folk Art Museum welcomes additional information.
To help improve this record, please email photoservices@folkartmuseum.orgportraitP6.2000.00119451945 2002 23 1 Born to a German mother and a Russian-Polish Jewish father, Morris Hirshfield was among the large group of eastern Europeans who immigrated to the United States around the turn of the century. He settled in New York City and, like thousands of others, became a garment worker. Eventually he went into business with his brother, first as a cloak and suit manufacturer, and then, after marrying, as the largest manufacturer of boudoir slippers in New York City (E.Z. Walk Manufacturing Company). In 1937, Hirshfield retired and began to paint, ultimately completing seventy-six canvases. His favorite subjects were women and animals. He sometimes made preliminary sketches and arranged them on canvas as he would a pattern for a garment. Characteristic of his style are bold patterns, bright colors, and fabric-like textures painted in a flattened style.
Anyone who suggests that self-taught artists are not conscious of themselves as artists may be surprised at Hirshfield’s masterpiece, The Artist and His Model, in which the mustachioed artist, palette in one hand and brushes in the other, portrays his fantasy—an artist painting a nude model. In this work, a typical Hirshfield painting of a cat hangs on the wall above the artist’s head. By the time this was painted, just months before his death, Hirshfield had already been represented by an agent and included in gallery shows and two Museum of Modern Art exhibitions.
In The Artist and His Model, Hirshfield presents an idealized vision of the human female. The nude figure stands frontally on a geometrically patterned pedestal and holds a gilded staff in one diminutive hand, her long hair falling below her shoulders. Her amply proportioned body suggests stiff dressmaker forms of the 1920s. The stylized curve of the pubic area and navel perfectly mimics the breasts above. Hirshfield never used a live model, saying “that wouldn’t be proper at my age.” This painting is an erotic fantasy of longing and desire, yet the yearning is tempered by reticence. The fastidious formal dress of the artist and the patterning of the interior and furnishings are a lively counterpoint to the model’s smooth flesh, sharply outlined in black. In La pensée sauvage (The Savage Mind), the anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss contrasted the concept of bricolage, a construction that results from tinkering with materials that happen to be available, to the methods of the engineer, which rely on the systematic use of a set of basic tools belonging to a specific science. Self-taught artists generally adopt the first creative process: unshaped by artistic conventions, their works display unexpected approaches to themes and usages. Morris Hirshfield’s art exemplifies this mindset: after a long illness that precipitated his retirement in 1937, he began to paint, applying to his art the techniques of the garment and slipper manufacturing in which he had been professionally involved. He made preparatory large-scale drawings—as if they were patterns for clothing to be assembled after cutting—sketching outlines of the major forms before he began to paint. His knowledge of textiles is visible in his paintings through a decorative repertoire of ornate fabric, striped upholstery, and embroidered clothing.
Valérie Rousseau, “The Artist and His Model,” exhibition label for Self-Taught Genius: Treasures from the American Folk Art Museum. Stacy C. Hollander and Valérie Rousseau, curators. New York: American Folk Art Museum, 2014.
Object information is a work in progress and may be updated with new research. Records are reviewed and revised, and the American Folk Art Museum welcomes additional information.
To help improve this record, please email photoservices@folkartmuseum.orgportrait