Under Cover: J.C. Leyendecker and American Masculinity
Now through August 13, 2023, the New York Historical Society has 19 oil paintings and a boatload of other illustrations from the collection of the National Museum of American Illustration, Newport, RI, featuring the work of J.C. Leyendecker (1874–1951) who worked as a commercial artist. He is best known for this Arrow Collar Man advertisements, but he did covers for the Saturday Evening Post too in the early 20th Century. Leyendecker was gay in an era when hiding that identity was often essential to success, but his work reveals how much he loved the beauty of young men.
He worked in the era before fashion photography dominated, and the ability of illustrators to capture realistic images of people, and to indicate some kind of story, whether for magazines or advertisements, was big business. This image is called “Record Time” and captures the moment during a swim meet as the man in the suit holds a stop watch. It was created for Kuppenheimer & Co of Chicago which sold menswear, including suits. Leyendecker’s illustrations can give you a good idea about what men wore, at least well-off men who had money to spend on nice clothes.
For more information, go here: https://www.nyhistory.org/exhibitions/under-cover-leyendecker-and-american-masculinity
