Joseph Christian Leyendecker (American, 1874-1951). Fourth of July, The Saturday Evening Post cover, July 1, 1911. Oil o...

Description

Joseph Christian Leyendecker (American, 1874-1951)
Fourth of July, The Saturday Evening Post cover, July 1, 1911
Oil on canvas laid on board
28 x 20-1/2 inches (71.1 x 52.1 cm)
Signed lower right: JCLeyendecker

PROVENANCE:
Private collection, Roseville, California.

A sensitive observer, Leyendecker also created poignant, whimsical works capturing the antics of children, as evidenced by his iconic, recurring New Year's Baby created exclusively for The Saturday Evening Post. To many collector and historians, Leyendecker's scenes of children are some of the finest of his entire oeuvre. Fourth of July of 1911 typifies Leyendecker's masterful ability to story-tell using a precocious young boy pranking a puffed policeman rendered in his distinctive staccato painting style.

Born in Montabaur, Germany, Leyendecker came to Chicago with his Catholic family at age eight. He apprenticed to a printer, J. Manz and Co., and then studied with John Vanderpoel at the Chicago Art Institute. In 1896, he won the Century magazine cover competition, which essentially launched him professionally. Two years later, he went to Paris to the Académie Julian with his brother, Francis Xavier, and they learned the "hachure" method of drawing whereby blended shading was not allowed. It was a time when poster art was very popular, and when he returned to America, the artist applied these new methods to his work. With a secret recipe combining oil and turpentine, J.C. and his brother, Frank, perfected a crosshatch method of working in oil paint that gave the speed of pencil and the visual impact of color without the brush going dry.

In Fourth of July a darling young boy, ginger hair tousled and pant legs rolled up, sneaks behind the idle policeman to mischievously light a firework. The boy has clearly been celebrating the patriotic holiday with more than just a little fun -- on the verge of laughter and ready to run. Leyendecker, an expert illustrator, juxtaposes the figures not only in size, dress, and demeanor but also in composition in order to capture the climactic moment just before the firework goes BANG! This whimsical child-like moment is perfectly applied with Leyendecker's hallmark cross-hatching technique from the background to the details of the figures' clothes. The result is a highly refined, wonderfully descriptive snapshot of a timeless childhood mischief.


More information about Joseph Christian Leyendecker. See also: Leyendecker, Joseph Christian Artist.



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