Two Left Feet

I first delighted in Morris Hirshfield when I visited the "new" MoMA which exhibited several of his works in 2020.  At the time, he didn't even rate a Wikipedia page.

"Angora Cat" (1937-1939)

Before fading into obscurity, the Polish emigre had a moment almost as interesting as Lana Turner's discovery in Schwab's Pharmacy except it actually happened.  Shortly after Hirshfield began painting at the age of 65 an art dealer, who was curating an "painters-you've-never-heard-of" exhibit, spotted his work and included it.  The Surrealism crowd, very much in vogue at the time, embraced the former tailor and slipper designer as a kindred spirt and MoMA gave him a one-man show!    

"Beach Girl" (1937-39)

"Tailor-Made Girl" (1939)

Predictably, contemporary art critics were appalled that MoMA had recognized a self-taught Brooklyn artist who had picked up his paint brush only six years earlier. Hirsfield's funky depiction of female anatomy got under their skin; it looked as if most of his women had two left feet.  A retrospective of Hirshfield's work at the American Folk Art Museum curated by Richard Meyer, along with a gorgeous catalog, hopefully will re-introduce the man to a less snooty audience.

American Beauty (1945)

Hirshfield often painted animals as well as women.

"Baby Elephant With Boy" (1943)

"Dogs and Pups" (1944)

"Stage Girls With Angels" (1945)

Label text indicates the happily married Hirshfield drew from his imagination because it would be improper to be in a room with nude models.  No Picasso, he!

"Nude With Flowers" (1945)

"Harp Girl II" (Girl With Harp, 1945)

"Wintersled I" (1946)

He painted his final work from a postcard of Sacré-Cœur sent to him from Paris by a friend. The title mystifies.

"Parliamentary Buildings" (1946)

A display of boudoir slippers, patented and designed by Hirshfield during the Roaring Twenties, and custom-made by artist Liz Blahd especially for this retrospective nearly a century later, anticipates the decorative motifs in his paintings.  I believe it slyly spoofs his early critical reputation, too:  they all seem to be for left feet!

It's easy to see how the E-Z Walk Manufacturing Company, owned by Hirshfield and his wife, made a mint selling these gorgeous "Foot Pals."  This one's made from cashmere.