Joseph Christian Leyendecker
The Candidate, Saturday Evening Post Cover, 1917
1920

About the Item

Signature: Signed Lower Left Medium: Oil on Canvas Saturday Evening Post Cover, September 18, 1920 - Leyendecker addressed the theme of American patriotism in several ways. His famous Fourth of July covers asserted the import of American independence through stock characters: George Washington, Uncle Sam, the Statue of Liberty, colonial Freedom Fighters, and modern-day soldiers. In addition, his World War I and World War II covers depicted soldiers proudly defending their country. Leyendecker also profiled U.S. presidents and historical figures - George Washington, Robert E. Lee, William Howard Taft, and Woodrow Wilson -- who embodied dedicated leadership on behalf of the country. Another of Leyendecker's popular patriotic types was the political candidate. His November 4, 1916 cover, for example, shows a candidate in a bowler hat delivering a stump speech, wildly gesticulating with his outstretched arm and raised fist. This particular 1920 cover, The Candidate, captures a politician wearing a flag sash and appealing to his audience in a different fashion, with a concerned, empathetic expression and his hand placed over his heart in a gesture of honor. The frontal stance of the candidate, as well as his top hat, tailored suit, and gold watch fob, also resembles that of the upper-class industrialist on Leyendecker's October 5, 1907 cover, Getting Rich Quick.

Creator:
Joseph Christian Leyendecker (1874 - 1951, American)
Creation Year:
1920
Dimensions:
Height: 28 in (71.12 cm)Width: 22 in (55.88 cm)
Medium:
Canvas,Oil
Period:
1920-1929
Condition:
Gallery Location:
Fort Washington, PA
Reference Number:
1stDibs: LU38435638112
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Joseph Christian Leyendecker

Joseph Christian "J.C." Leyendecker was born in Germany in 1874. He immigrated to the United States with his family in 1882. His eldest brother, Adolph, became a prominent stained glass artist, and Joe, as he was called, had an early artistic calling.

After studying at the Chicago Art Institute under John H. Vanderpoel, J.C. Leyendecker enrolled at the Académie Julien in 1896, where he studied for a year with his younger brother Frank in the Beaux-Arts tradition. During his time there, he was exposed to and influenced by the works of Art Nouveau painters and printmakers Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Jules Chéret and Alphonse Mucha, with whom he formed a strong friendship. The next year, he staged his first one-man exhibition at the Salon du Champ-de-Mars and made the auspicious acquaintance of Paul Gauguin.

In 1898, Leyendecker produced the first of 48 covers for Collier’s magazine. The next year, he painted his first cover for The Saturday Evening Post magazine, which was the beginning of a 44-year association with that esteemed publication. Throughout his career, he would also paint covers for Life magazine, illustrations for a library of books, and transform advertising for such companies as B. Kuppenheimer & Co. and Interwoven Socks. His work for Arrow Shirt is the most well-known and beloved.

Using his lover and manager, Charles Beach, as a model, Leyendecker created the ultimate image of modern American masculinity. His work for Kuppenheimer, also known as the House of Kuppenheimer, is just as iconic. Founded in 1876, the company became the manufacturer of uniforms for the United States Army during World War I. Thanks to Leyendecker's advertising, the firm became synonymous with the ultimate in male taste and desirability.

Unfortunately, near the end of his career, as Leyendecker’s associations with Collier’s and The Saturday Evening Post came to an end, his work fell into obscurity. When he died in 1951, his great friend Norman Rockwell, who commemorated their relationship in his painting Waiting for the Art Editor, served as one of his pallbearers.

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(Biography provided by M.S. Rau)