New York Times Illustration by Al Hirschfeld

Al Hirschfeld is one of the most famous and influential illustrators of the 20th century. His works appeared in just about every publication of note. Born in 1903 and passing away in 2003, he had a long career. He was known for his caricatures and did a lot of work related to the stage, movies and music. This is an illustration from 1971 for a New York Times piece on a Bernstein musical, "On the Town". Here is the description from Heritage auctions.

Broadway musical with music by Leonard Bernstein and book and lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, starred an exciting cast that included Bernadette Peters, Phyllis Newman, Donna McKechnie, Jess Richards, Remak Ramsay, and Ron Husmann. Bernadette Peters, already a rising star, would receive her first Tony nomination for this role. Ironically, the artist saw On the Town­-a love letter to New York City-during its Boston preview, as noted in the inscription by the signature. The mysterious 3 reveals there are three hidden "NINAs" in the work.

The NINA thing is fun. When his daughter was born in the 1950's he started hiding the word Nina in his illustrations. It was wildly popular and he would tell you how many there were with a number behind his signature. When he decided it was time to stop the gimmick, there was such an outcry he continued to do them for the rest of his career, sometimes lamenting how he would be more remembered for the NINA's gag than his work. This is not the case, his art is unmistakable and I am truly honored to bring one of these into my collection.

I left the image larger so you could find the NINAs if you care to look.