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Impossible Interview No. 11: Al Capone vs Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes, 1932
by Miguel Covarrubias
Between 1932-1936, caricaturist Miguel Covarrubias provided images for a series of "Impossible Interviews" in Vanity Fair, each of which featured fictional conversations between two famous personalities of opposite character. Here, Hughes has been cast opposite "Public Enemy Number One" -- the notorious gangster Al Capone -- who had recently been arrested and sent to Alcatraz prison.
A comparison of Hughes by Covarrubias and Hirschfeld might at first suggest more similarities than differences: in both he is seen in left profile with splayed eyebrows, goatee, and an especially exaggerated mustache. However, Covarrubias has turned his hair into regular, rhythmic stripes, given him simple curlicues for ears, and flattened the flesh of his face to nearly pure form. By contrast, Hirschfeld created a more natural face with flesh that is rounded and three-dimensional, and given him hair with individual fibers. |