Leo Hershfield Satirical Ink Illustration "Arctic Character with Periscope"

Item Details

Arctic Character with Periscope, circa 1960
Ink illustration on paper
Signed to the lower left
Artist’s dedication to the lower left corner
Inscribed to the lower right
Illustration intended for Changing Times Magazine

Leo Hershfield is celebrated as a prominent American cartoonist, illustrator, and courtroom artist for NBC News, who referred to him as the ‘Dean of Courtroom Artists’. As the first modern artist to sketch trials for television news in the 1950s, he worked on 147 trials for NBC throughout his career. Born to Ukrainian immigrants, he studied at the National Academy of Design and the Art Students League, then traveled to Europe where he further developed his drawing and watercolors skills. In 1929, he began drawing caricatures and cartoons of famous people that were featured in the New York Times including their Sunday magazine. Throughout his life, he also illustrated nearly sixty books, including those written by H. Allen Smith, Vincent Price, Groucho Marx, and Richard Armour. After serving in World War II as the Art Director for the Office of War Information, he worked as an illustrator for several publications such as Reader’s Digest, The Saturday Evening Post, and The Democratic Digest. Some of the significant trials and courtroom proceedings that he sketched include the Chicago Seven, the Harrisburg Seven, Jack Ruby, James Earl Ray, and perhaps most importantly, the court martial of Lt. William Calley convicted in the My Lai Massacre trial.

Condition

- minor wear and negligible scratches throughout the frame; toning throughout paper, especially along the edges of matting.

Dimensions

- measures the frame; sight size 10.5" W x 9.25" H.

Item #

ITMG126652