“Family Promenade” – 1964

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This is the only Hirshman piece with a reference to automobiles – the Pontiac hubcap belly of the father. Hirshman never had a driver’s license due to a fear of traveling by car. Instead, Hirshman was an ardent walker, striding at a fast clip every afternoon on a five-mile (eight kilometer) march through Philadelphia to the evening art school where he taught and oversaw the faculty. Most likely he picked up the abandoned hubcap off the street – truly a “found object” – during one of his journeys. And this scene of an expressionless family (except for the smiling dog) was probably another discovery found on the streets of Philadelphia.

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