For your Hirschfeld we suggest our handmade Signature Frame, which we designed decades ago as the perfect presentation for Hirschfeld's definitive lines. All of the frames shown on our Website are our Signature Frame, and you can see how beautifully this rounded-corner design compliments the flow of Hirschfeld’s line.

Our frames are made by hand of solid wood, never veneer. For this and for other reasons our framing should never be compared with commercial frames, but with fine cabinetry. All the frames we show on our Website happen to be black. However, because we start with raw wood, you can choose any color you would like for the frame. For example, a cherry wood, or a golden oak, or an almost-white bleached ash. Or, you could also choose as your color even a blue or a green or a purple. Any color that you can send to us, we can send back to you as a frame.

As for the price, quite frankly, our frames are expensive. This is because in addition to the quality of our handmade frames, all of the framing materials that touch your Hirschfeld—such as the mat—will conform to rigorous archival standards. This includes our conservation glass, which provides close to 99% percent UV protection for your Hirschfeld.

If you decide to take your Hirschfeld to another framer, we would suggest that you ask the framer beforehand for a written statement assuring you that their framing is 100% archival. You now own a masterful piece of theater history, not to mention a piece of your personal history, and it should be protected forever.

You may be interested to know that our Gallery has a Paper Restoration Department that conserves and restores Works of Art and Documents on paper. We also conserve and restore newspaper.

To visit our Restorations page, click here.

We appreciate your interest in working with our Gallery, Al Hirschfeld’s representative since 1969.

As much as we would like to accommodate the multitude of requests for Appraisals about specific Hirschfeld pieces, we have a dilemma: If your piece was not purchased at our Gallery, the only way we can be sure of what you have, and its value, is by seeing the Work in person. Otherwise there is no way for us to know whether, for example, the image in question is a Drawing or a Lithograph, is the real thing or a copy, has a genuine Hirschfeld signature or not. Unfortunately, a photograph by itself cannot establish with certainty the medium, and therefor the value of, a Hirschfeld.

Sadly, forged Hirschfelds abound. For example, eBay, as well as other auction venues are filled with ersatz Hirschfelds. We are constantly asked to render opinions as to the legitimacy of such items listed for sale. The same is true for Hirschfeld works being shown in other galleries.

We can only render an opinion when we have held a work in our hands. It is unethical for us even to give a rough estimate.

The work involved in Authentication and Appraisal is deeply labor-intensive from the time your piece arrives until its safe return to you. In addition to the cost of packaging and shipping in each direction, our fees are as follows:

For Drawings, Gouaches, or Watercolors, our fee for an appraisal is $750 for any Hirschfeld Drawing that we receive either in the original framing done by our Gallery, or without a frame. If we receive a Hirschfeld Drawing in framing that was not done by our Gallery, we will have to remove the frame in order to examine the entire piece. In such a case, there will be an additional fee that covers unframing the work, and reframing it afterward in the client's own frame. For both framed and unframed art, shipping to and from our Gallery will be charged additionally. (If upon unframing your Work we find the framing is inconsistent with archival standards, we will contact you immediately to suggest replacement with archivally-sound materials.)

For Lithographs, Etchings, and other works on paper, our fee is $350 for a work that we receive either in the original framing done by our Gallery, or without a frame. If we receive a Hirschfeld work on paper in framing that was not done by our Gallery, we will have to remove the frame in order to examine the entire piece. In such a case, there will be an additional fee that covers unframing the work, and reframing it afterward in the client's own frame. For both framed and unframed art, shipping to and from our Gallery will be charged additionally. (If upon unframing your Work we find the framing is inconsistent with archival standards, we will contact you immediately to suggest replacement with archivally-sound materials.)

When Art has been purchased from our Gallery, we are always pleased to furnish Replacement Values. Replacement Values differ from Appraisals in that we are not warranting the present condition of the Art that was purchased from us. The Replacement Value answers the question, “At our Gallery, what would it cost to purchase this Art, or a comparable work of Art, in mint condition today?”

For Drawings, Gouaches, or Watercolors, our fee for the written Replacement Value is $350 each. This fee INCLUDES the initial correspondence with your insurance company, should the need arise.

For Lithographs, Etchings, and other works on paper, our fee for the written Replacement Value is: $150. This fee INCLUDES the initial correspondence with your insurance company, should the need arise.