Elie Hirschfeld Curates The Energy and Beauty of Manhattan in his Art Collection
Some may know Elie Hirschfeld primarily as a renowned New York real estate developer and philanthropist – but Hirschfeld also has a passion for the arts – which he has enjoyed cultivating through collecting and loaning works of art that are often focused on the beauty of his home city of New York.
“I am always pleased to share my work with other museums and galleries and although each exhibition addresses its own theme, collectively the works that feature New York City as a theme speak to the greater story of the culture, vibrancy and expression alive in of New York. This theme is a dynamic one – changing and consistently relevant in new ways,” said Elie Hirschfeld.
Earlier this year, Mr Hirschfield expanded his art collection with the acquisition of an original work by Mr. Keith Haring, called Radiant Baby. Elie Hirschfeld and his wife Sarah Hirschfeld have always admired the, energy and diversity that continually surge through every street, avenue, park and subway of New York City. He has an enduring appreciation for the work of Keith Haring, a groundbreaking artist that is associated with transformative times in the city.
Radiant Baby was created in the mid-1980s on a steel New York City subway sign in Bowery station. The Bowery Street Station was near the center of the 70s downtown art scene and the metro was no stranger to graffiti; artists’ tags were placed on every surface, nook and cranny. Keith Haring’s career began in the underground metro system below the city of New York where he used chalk to tag the Subway cards and signs. The station sign was tagged by Haring who used two of his most celebrated tags “Radiant Baby” and “Aids Alligator.”
Last year, Hirschfeld lent Georgia O’Keeffe’s 1949 drawing of Brooklyn Bridge to the Georgia Museum of Art’s exhibition “Icon of Modernism: Representing the Brooklyn Bridge, 1883-1950” and Jacob Lawrence’s 1938 Harlem Diner to the Musee du Quai Branly’s fall exhibition last year, entitled “The Color Line: African American Artists and Civil Rights in the United States” in Paris.
The president of Hirschfeld Properties LLC , Elie Hirschfeld has become one of Manhattan’s most ardent collectors of American art. Hirschfeld’s private collection, includes approximately 200 19th and 20th century and contemporary original works by major figures such as Frank Stella, Andy Warhol, Mark Rothko, Alexander Calder, and Stuart Davis, with a strong focus on art depicting and inspired by New York City.