Joseph Christian Leyendecker
The Courtship, Success Magazine Cover
1905

About the Item

Medium: Oil on Canvas Signature: Signed Lower Left Sight Size 22.00" x 15.50", Framed 31.00" x 24.00" Success Magazine Cover, The Success Company, New York Literature: Success Magazine, December 1905, illustrated in color on the cover Michael Schau, J.C. Leyendecker, New York, 1974, illustrated in color p. 132 Laurence Cutler and Judy Goffman Cutler, J.C. Leyendecker: American Imagist, New York, 2008, illustrated in color p. 190 JVJ Publishing, Jim Vadeboncoeur; The Vadeboncoeur Collection of Images, Palo Alto, CA. Issue#13, Fall 2014 Notes: Painted circa 1905 Joseph Christian Leyendecker (March 23, 1874 - July 25, 1951) was one of the pre-eminent American illustrators of the early twentieth century. He is best known for his poster, book, and advertising illustrations, the iconic trade character known as the Arrow Collar Man, and his numerous covers for the Saturday Evening Post. Between 1896 and 1950, Leyendecker painted more than four hundred magazine covers. During 'The Golden Age of American Illustration', for the Saturday Evening Post alone, J. C. Leyendecker produced 322 covers, as well as many advertisement illustrations for its interior pages. No other artist, until the arrival of Norman Rockwell two decades later, was so solidly identified with one publication.

Creator:
Joseph Christian Leyendecker (1874 - 1951, American)
Creation Year:
1905
Dimensions:
Height: 22 in (55.88 cm)Width: 15.5 in (39.37 cm)
Medium:
Canvas,Oil
Period:
1900-1909
Condition:
Gallery Location:
Fort Washington, PA
Reference Number:
1stDibs: LU38431548233
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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)