Al Hirschfeld Townhouse Mural, Thought To Be Original, Revealed As Wallpaper

When the East 95th Street townhouse where legendary Broadway and Hollywood caricature artist Al Hirschfeld last resided went on the market recently, at least part of the $9.2 million asking price was because of what was listed as an eight-foot-tall original mural on the parlor floor.

The crowded restaurant scene depicted includes line drawings of luminaries such as Frank Sinatra, Marilyn Monroe, Charlie Chaplin, Groucho and Harpo Marx, Louis Armstrong and Laurel & Hardy.

But although the renovated pink townhouse is certainly a beaut, Hirschfeld's longtime dealer Margo Feiden felt obligated to burst interested parties' bubbles with the truth.

It's just wallpaper.

"To call it an original is just plain wrong," Feiden tells the Observer, while admitting that it's indeed worth owning.

The dealer describes the wallpaper as a series of original Hirschfeld drawings made during the 1950s that were later collaged together and made into a composite image, produced around 1955.

Sadly, it never caught on with collectors and is no longer produced.

"Its main draw was its failing, because you have to have an enormous amount of space and most people just don't," she explains.

If it were an original artwork and "in a form that could move," Feiden would estimate its worth at $150,000-$200,000.

Today, original Hirschfelds fetch between $3,500 - $35,000. Signed, limited edition lithographs sell for between $1,500-$10,000.

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