Whoopi Goldberg
1992
Pen & ink drawing on artist’s board
and hand-signed limited-edition lithograph

The drawing you see here was commissioned by the subject in 1992 when her one-woman show, Whoopi Goldberg, was on Broadway; she wanted a Hirschfeld portrait to use as her logo. Hirschfeld and I both saw Whoopi perform very early in her career, and we knew when she walked onto the stage that she was a real original. And Whoopi, in turn, was a tremendous Hirschfeld fan. You might say that Hirschfeld and Whoopi formed their own Mutual Admiration Society. There has always been a myth that Hirschfeld rated a performer or a play by hiding more or fewer NINAs in his drawing. The idea that the more NINAs Hirschfeld hid, the more impressed he was with a performer, performance, or play, really really is a myth. And, yet, in Hirschfeld’s first portrait of Whoopi, in 1984, he included 40 NINAs, a record number at that time. Perhaps in Whoopi’s case, and just this once, the myth was a reality. You can hear Whoopi in her own voice wishing Hirschfeld a happy 99th Birthday, by going to Hirschfeld’s website at www.alhirschfeld.com/ index2.html. There, click on the “Gift” icon, then click on the “?.” Follow the stars down the page, and move your cursor over the left-hand edge of the stars until you see Whoopi’s portrait appear. Click on that star, and enjoy!