This is a 1918 suit advertisement by Leyendecker. It steers customers toward The House of Kuppenheimer, which was acquired by The Men's Wearhouse. THE HAGGIN MUSEUM

Prolific early-20th-century illustrator Joseph Christian Leyendecker sits for a portrait in his studio. THE HAGGIN MUSEUM

J.C. Leyendecker's 1910 musing on baseball--titled 'Out or Safe?'--graced the cover of The Popular Magazine. THE HAGGIN MUSEUM

This 1944 portrait of Adm. Harold Raynsford Stark is part of a series on leaders. THE HAGGIN MUSEUM

On visit to Belmont, art expert to give perspective to America's golden age of illustration and one of its foremost talents

Date published: 1/18/2008

By CLINT SCHEMMER

Joseph Christian Leyendecker created American icons, yet his own celebrity proved ephemeral.

There are half a dozen good reasons to see the exhibit "J.C. Leyendecker: America's 'Other' Illustrator" now at Belmont, but among them is this: It teaches a poignant lesson on the fleeting nature of fame and good fortune--to say nothing of popular taste.

Leyendecker, the subject of this traveling show, rose from an immigrant, middle-class background to become the nation's "king of illustrators," only to see his style eclipsed as World War II changed everything.

It's staggering to experience the power and beauty of this man's full-size original works and contrast that with how unknown he is to most people today.

In his prime--which lasted for more than 40 years--Leyendecker's work was everywhere. Gracing more than 500 covers of the best-selling magazines and countless ads and posters, it was familiar to everyone and admired by millions.

Leyendecker was a trend-setter and taste-maker with few equals. In the early 20th century, his elegant style--unique, but with elements of Art Nouveau and Art Deco--was fresh and different.

Think of him as the Calvin Klein/Annie Leibovitz/Steve Jobs of his time.

"I think it's very hard for us--as contemporary people with access to the Internet and every possible form of media--to imagine the reach of an artist who is creating work for a public that get all of their information and entertainment from print," said Stephanie Plunkett, chief curator of the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Mass.

"Magazines had an extraordinary reach, as did newspapers. The Saturday Evening Post, for which Leyendecker did 322 covers, was read in one out of every nine American households during its heyday."

This Sunday, Plunkett will visit Belmont to give a gallery talk and help visitors better appreciate Leyendecker's legacy and understand the artistic era in which he and other great illustrators--Charles Dana Gibson, Frederic Remington, John Held Jr. and Winslow Homer--worked and lived.

icon inspires an icon

There could hardly be a more appropriate speaker, for Leyendecker helped give us Rockwell.

His elder by 20 years, Leyendecker inspired Rockwell when the latter illustrator was getting started, an influence immediately noticeable in Rockwell's early works.

Rockwell, quite the storyteller, recounted how--when both men lived in the artists' colony of New Rochelle, N.Y.--he would follow Leyendecker to see what he was looking at, to discern what he was thinking about, Plunkett said in an interview this week.

In the 1920s, so one tale goes, Rockwell hid behind the town's train depot just to watch Leyendecker step off the train from New York City and climb into his limousine for the ride home.

WHAT: "J.C. Leyendecker and the Legendary Illustrators of America's Golden Age," by Stephanie Plunkett, chief curator of the Norman Rockwell Museum. 2 p.m. Sunday. WHERE: Gari Melchers Home and Studio, 224 Washington St., Falmouth. garimelchers.org. 540/654-1015. (Gallery talk included with admission. $10 per adult; $5 for ages 6-18; free to UMW staff and students, Friends of Belmont members and their guests) The featured exhibit, "J.C. Leyendecker: America's 'Other' Illustrator"--which is on an 11-city U.S. tour--will be in town through Feb. 3. ONLINE: Photo gallery of Leyendecker's works: hagginmuseum.org/ exhibitions/leyendecker

Date published: 1/18/2008

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