Polish American painter. Born in rural Jewish Poland, he emigrated to the United States at the age of 18 and became a salesman and manufacturer of women's clothing. At age 65, Hirshfield began to paint. The subjects he was immediately drawn to were women, animals, and occasionally themes from his Jewish heritage, with an emphasis on dense pattern and texturing. His paintings of cats, lions, and tigers are reminiscent of the wall and ceiling paintings of eastern European synagogues. .