Artist · 5 prints
J.C. Leyendecker Prints
About J.C. Leyendecker
Joseph Christian Leyendecker was a German-born American illustrator, born on March 23, 1874, in Montabaur, Germany, and he died on July 25, 1951, at his home in New Rochelle, New York. His family emigrated to Chicago in 1882. He took night classes at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and then studied at the Académie Julian in Paris with his brother Frank, also an illustrator.
Leyendecker became one of the most popular magazine artists in America. He painted 322 covers for The Saturday Evening Post between 1899 and 1943, helping make the New Year's baby a holiday tradition, and his Mother's Day cover of 1914 is credited with popularizing the custom of giving flowers. For Cluett Peabody he created the Arrow Collar Man, a suave, square-jawed figure who appeared in shirt-collar advertisements from 1907 to 1930 and set an ideal of men's style. His smooth, confident brushwork influenced his neighbor Norman Rockwell. The Haggin Museum in Stockton, California, holds the largest public collection of his work.
J.C. Leyendecker prints: reproductions of the magazine covers and advertising illustrations J.C. Leyendecker painted in the early twentieth century. The collection includes Success, Christmas Number 1900, Success, Thanksgiving Number, November 1901, Arrow Collars & Cluett Shirts (1908), Giving Thanks (Thanksgiving Couple) (1910) and Collier's Sailor (1917).
This selection has two threads. The holiday covers, for Thanksgiving and Christmas, show the early magazine work that made Leyendecker a household name. The Arrow Collar advertisement and the Collier's sailor show his well-dressed, confident young men, the figures for which he is best known today and which are now widely read as part of queer art history. All five share his smooth brushwork and strong outlines.
The holiday covers suit entryways, dining rooms and kitchens during the autumn and winter seasons, and the Arrow and sailor images work well in a dressing room, bedroom or living room. All prints are museum-quality reproductions, available unframed or framed with low-glare acrylic glazing, with free shipping and import duties covered.
