JOSEPH CHRISTIAN LEYENDECKER (American, 1874-1951). The Candidate, The Saturday Evening Post cover, September 18, 1920. ...

Description

JOSEPH CHRISTIAN LEYENDECKER (American, 1874-1951)
The Candidate, The Saturday Evening Post cover, September 18, 1920
Oil on canvas laid on board
28 x 22 inches (71.1 x 55.9 cm)
Signed with monogram lower left: JCLeyendecker

PROVENANCE:
Private collection, San Clemente, California.

Leyendecker addressed the theme of American patriotism in several ways. His famous Fourth of July covers asserted the import of American independence through stock characters: George Washington, Uncle Sam, the Statue of Liberty, colonial Freedom Fighters, and modern-day soldiers. In addition, his World War I and World War II covers depicted soldiers proudly defending their country. Leyendecker also profiled U.S. presidents and historical figures - George Washington, Robert E. Lee, William Howard Taft, and Woodrow Wilson -- who embodied dedicated leadership on behalf of the country.

Another of Leyendecker's popular patriotic types was the political candidate. His November 4, 1916 cover, for example, shows a candidate in a bowler hat delivering a stump speech, wildly gesticulating with his outstretched arm and raised fist. This particular 1920 cover, The Candidate, captures a politician wearing a flag sash and appealing to his audience in a different fashion, with a concerned, empathetic expression and his hand placed over his heart in a gesture of honor. The frontal stance of the candidate, as well as his top hat, tailored suit, and gold watch fob, also resembles that of the upper-class industrialist on Leyendecker's October 5, 1907 cover, Getting Rich Quick.


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



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