J.C. Leyendecker exhibition, 2019: part 2

J.C. Leyendecker, Couple on a Raft, 1909. Reynolda House exhibition, 2019.

Post published:November 22, 2022

For more on Leyendecker and this 2019 exhibition at Reynolda House (Winston-Salem, NC), see Part 1 of this series. This post is available as a video at https://youtu.be/uA89KSj0SNY.

1907+: July 4th covers for the Saturday Evening Post

From 1899 to 1943, J.C. created 322 covers for the Saturday Evening Post. The earliest of this group of covers for the Fourth of July is 1907.

J.C. Leyendecker, Saturday Evening Post covers for July 4th. Reynolda House exhibition, 2019.

1908 Punter

A Saturday Evening Post cover. You could get a photo with a drone of this moment, but it would never have the same single-minded focus or energy.

J.C. Leyendecker, Punter, 1908. Reynolda House exhibition, 2019.

1909: Couple on a Raft

Another of my favorites, for its perky cheerfulness. This is very much J.C.’s developed style, with crisp, energetic brushstrokes adapted to the particular object portrayed: look at the differences between the faces, her hair, the raft and the water.

Yes, she looks ridiculously overdressed to be swimming … but “normal” at this point is the sort of outfit in the 1904 Garden Walk painting (see last week’s post). This was created as a cover for Popular Magazine.

1909: Cream of Wheat advertisement

J.C. Leyendecker, Cream of Wheat ad, 1909. Reynolda House exhibition, 2019.

1909 Downed

Certainly looks like one of his Saturday Evening Post covers, but I can’t find it in their archives. – Updated: cover of Century Illustrated for November 1909. HT Steve B.

J.C. Leyendecker, Downed, 1909. Reynolda House exhibition, 2019.

1909: Lady with a Parasol

J.C. Leyendecker, Lady with a Parasol, 1909. Reynolda House exhibition, 2019.

1909: Man in Pajamas

Illustration for a story in the Saturday Evening Post. Look at the way he composes the painting so that the focus is on the man at the window, even though there’s a lot of other details. We grasp the man’s eagerness or curiosity not by his facial expression (can’t see much of it), but by his pose. Also: I’m fascinated by the way J.C. shows the texture of the pajamas (glistening silk) without doing a thread-by-thread reproduction.

J.C. Leyendecker, Man in Pajamas, 1909. Reynolda House exhibition, 2019.

1909+: New Year’s Babies for the Saturday Evening Post

For the cover of the Saturday Evening Post of December 29, 1906, J.C. invented the notion of a baby ringing in the New Year: a fresh start. For almost 40 years, the cover of the Post that was published closest to January 1 had an infant by J.C. on the cover, often in a context related to the current situation of the United States. This group is fascinating for what the covers reveal about the America’s preoccupations: war, airplanes, votes for women, the Great Depression, and more.

J.C. Leyendecker, Saturday Evening Post covers for New Year’s. Reynolda House exhibition, 2019.

This one (an original oil) is from 1909.

J.C. Leyendecker, New Year’s Baby for the Saturday Evening Post, 1909. Reynolda House exhibition, 2019.

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