It's funny. I don't really know a lot about Joseph Leyendecker. But, somehow, I have become known (by a small community) as an expert in all things related to the artist. It started in 2007, when my wife's wonderful parents gave me a collection of Saturday Evening Post covers from the 30's. Within that collection (compiled originally by my father-in-law's father) were 30-something Leyendecker covers as well as some newer Rockwell covers. Seeing this treasure as something many artists would love to have access to, I scanned them and shared the high res images on a new blog called A Little Bit of Leyendecker Greatness. I passed it along to Charley Parker, who runs Lines and Colors, and he posted the link immediately. It got lots of circulation and, slowly but surely, I started getting emails from everyone seeking to explore the great expanse of my Leyendecker knowledge. I've been approached by people to authenticate artwork, to give value estimates on Leyendecker treasures, and to discuss the accuracy of recent books on J.C. I even had a professor from Duke University take me out to lunch so I could review a scholarly paper he was publishing on Leyendecker. I fooled them all!
In truth, I do have a little knowledge of J.C.'s bio, but it's really his art that has had the most impact on me. It's so clean! So rich! And he's one of the few artists that my wife and I both equally appreciate. We actually have several of those previously mentioned Saturday Evening Post covers framed and hanging throughout our house.
For more info on Leyendecker's life, Charley (at Lines and Colors) has provided a good collection of resources found here. For a sample of his art, see below or check out my other blog (see link above).
This one (above) is hanging over my desk right now.
1 comment:
Andrew, thank you for introducing me to the magic of Leyendecker's art, particularly pointing me to the fantastic book "J.C. Leyendecker" by Cutler and Cutler.
Post a Comment