Allen M. Hirsch

Allen M. Hirsch (December 9, 1959) is an American artist, writer, entrepreneur, inventor, and real estate developer. He has painted Bill Clinton for the National Portrait Gallery and Muammar Qaddafi (among others) for the covers of TIME magazine. Hirsch is the inventor of HANDL.

Early life and education

Hirsch was born in Encino, CA. He developed an interest in art since he was a child. At a young age, he produced portraits of interesting faces, including his childhood hero, J.R.R. Tolkien. After his first self-portrait was featured in a young talent exhibition in Washington’s National Portrait Gallery, Hirsch went on to study art at various schools, including Camberwell in London. He then received a B.F.A from Syracuse University (1981) and a Masters of Art from Rosary College in Florence (1985). He also studied at Skowhegan (1985) and the New York Studio School (1986).

Career

Artist

In 1982, Hirsch moved to New York City and experimented with different techniques, including painting only with a palette knife. Hirsch began by painting and drawing self-portraits in different emotional states. Having lost his job at Pearl Paint, he exhibited a self-portrait pleading with the caption "Please Help Me" on the street near the Whitney Museum. Eugene Mihaesco, one of the top illustrators for TIME, was one of the passers-by who noticed his work and invited Hirsch to come to the publication and meet the art director, Rudy Hoglund. This resulted in Hirsch doing covers for the magazine over the next ten years, including Muammar Qaddafi (1986), Drugs: The Enemy Within (1986), Iran Vs, The World (1987), Death of a Narc(1988), and Rajiv Gandhi (1991). After completing his master’s degree, he began painting portrait commissions and self-portraits, exploring the brain’s projection on the right and left sides of the face. He also painted with left and right hands to express “the duality of the psyche.

In 1993, he was invited to paint the inaugural portrait of William Jefferson Clinton in encaustic for the National Portrait Gallery. Subsequently, he was invited to the White House to present the portrait to the President. In 1997, Hirsch was commissioned to paint a portrait of Luciano Pavarotti (La Scuola Collection) and opened the HP Gallery in Soho. Around this time, he increasingly favored working in a “cube-like” manner which he called, "New Cubism. He then painted exclusively with the palette knife, working from nature and applying slabs of paint “to both bury and reveal the image."

By the late nineties, while Hirsch was spending his summers in Venezuela and testing out new methods, including working in cement and on burlap, he developed string painting. This involves painting on an array of strings suspended against a canvas backdrop. One can look at and through the image simultaneously without actually telling if the paint is on the string or the canvas.

While in Venezuela in 1997, Hirsch came across a box with a dying baby monkey. He nursed him back to life like a primate mother and realized he had no choice but to keep him. At great personal risk, he smuggled "Benjamin" back to the US. The two developed an amazing bond[18] and was the subject of a New York Times Emmy-winning documentary, Long Live Benjamin (2018), that he conceptualized and worked on with his cousin.

Exploring the depths of self-portraiture, portraiture, figure and landscape painting, Hirsch then created a series of views through his loft window overlooking Lafayette Street at the intersection of Soho, Nolita, Chinatown, and Little Italy. He has captured sunsets, blizzards, and major events such as 9/11, Hurricane Sandy, and the COVID-19 shutdown. He has painted scores of canvases of this view, showing New York’s changing character, resilience, and renewal. YCG Fine Art presented twelve of these works in a special exhibition honoring him for painting both daily occurrences and epic events in the city over the past 25 years.

Art collector

Hirsch is an art collector and authority on the 17th Century Dutch artist Pieter de Hooch. He has written several articles, including a recent in-depth study on the relationship between the artist and Johannes Vermeer, and is currently working on a book, "Pieter's Door."

Writer

Hirsch is the author of several other books in progress, including Wild Together, on his adventures with Benjamin. He frequently contributes to The New York Times, Artnet, and Art History News.

Inventor

Hirsch is the creator of HANDL. HANDL is a secure, grip-less case developed as an organic interface between hand and phone. Using a patented elastic and brace system, HandL applies easy pressure, making the phone feel like it is floating in the hand. HandL makes the phone feel like a paintbrush.

Hirsch came up with this idea when he struggled in front of the canvas one day, holding a brush in one hand and fumbling to use his cell phone in the other. As artists project their thoughts and feelings through their fingers and brush onto a canvas, much like it is done with phones, he felt there was a problem here to solve. He spent the next eight months creating various contraptions on his phone until he arrived at a simple yet ingenious solution using popsicle sticks and a rubber band. He patented this elastic and brace system around the world and has sold it in stores such as Target, Staples, and Office Depot. Many of the world's top entertainers and athletes have used HANDL for its stress-free hold to protect their hands.

Entrepreneur and real estate developer

In 2004, Hirsch bought and repurposed a dilapidated diner at the crossroads of Little Italy, Chinatown, Soho, and Nolita, and conceptualized a special new dining experience using the basement (where he used to hide out from the police with Benjamin). This became the now famous La Esquina Restaurant, which has public art and a cocktail dedicated to Benjamin. He also co-designed and curated Citizens of Soho, a cafe/art gallery/event space he also owns next door. He is also the founder of The Kaaterskill, which has since become a top wedding venue and hotel in the Hudson Valley.

Exhibitions

• American Art Galleries 2007-2017

• Allen Hirsch: Paintings, Louis Stern Fine Arts West Hollywood, CA 1998

• Retrospective, Quick Art Museum New York State 1998

• National Academy Museum New York 1996–1997

• Ron Hall Gallery Dallas, TX 1985–1993

• Smithsonian Institution Washington, DC 1977–1985

• National Portrait Gallery 1977–1985

• Allan Stone Gallery 1982

• Sindin Gallery 1979

Recognition

• Public Commission of Luciano Pavarotti

• Hitchcock Award for Landscape National Academy of Design

• Painting the inaugural portrait of William Jefferson Clinton in encaustic for the National Portrait Gallery

• Nominated for a museum award by the National Academy Museum

• Emmy Award for the documentary Long Live Benjamin, based on his life and art with a monkey

• Time Magazine covers 1982-1990