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JOSEPH CHRISTIAN LEYENDECKER (1874-1951)

Currency:USD Category:Art Start Price:6,250.00 USD Estimated At:50,000.00 - 1,000,000.00 USD
JOSEPH CHRISTIAN LEYENDECKER (1874-1951)
<B>JOSEPH CHRISTIAN LEYENDECKER (1874-1951)</B></I> <BR>Original Advertising Art <BR>The House of Kuppenheimer <BR>Merry Christmas from Kuppenheimer's, c.1924 <BR>Oil on canvas, mounted on board <BR>30.5in. x 25.5in. (sight size) <BR>Signed lower left: JC Leyendecker <BR><BR>J.C. Leyendecker's portrayals of handsome, stylishly dressed men soon became the symbol of fashionable American manhood, just as Charles Dana Gibson's portrayals had become the symbol of elegant young women. As author Michael Schau points out in his superb monograph, <I>J.C. Leyendecker</B></I>, "The characters of F. Scott Fitzgerald's <I>The Great Gatsby</B></I> come to mind in many Leyendecker pictures of the twenties: well-to-do civilized people with self-confidence reinforced by breeding, education, position, and taste. They were sophisticated but not above gaiety." Indeed, Fitzgerald himself paid tribute to Leyendecker in his 1929 story, <I>The Last of the Belles</B></I>, with this passage, "She showed me his picture -- it was a handsome, earnest face with a Leyendecker forelock -- and told me that when she met someone who measures up to him she'd marry." <BR><BR>Leyendecker's success with his Arrow Collar campaign soon had other clothiers seeking him out, and his ads were touted as among the most stylish ever produced. Illustrator Haddon Sundblom has often been credited with "branding" the image of Santa Claus with his Coca-Cola ads. The authors of <I>The American Magazine</B></I> write, "There was nothing elfin about Sundblom's painting, except perhaps the twinkle in his eye. He was a ruddy-faced fellow, with a hearty smile and a lap ample enough to accommodate a child or two. Not incidentally, his suit and cap were red and white, the colors of the soft drink's logo." Other Santa-philes however, credit Leyendecker with establishing the modern Santa Claus image with his <I>Post</B></I> covers. Key Leyendecker images of Santa appear on <I>Post</B></I> covers dated December 22, 1923; December 26, 1925; and December 20, 1930. Other famous illustrators including Thomas Nast and Norman Rockwell also helped standardize the image of Santa in the popular press. Their precedents influenced the Santa that Haddon Sundblom created for Coca-Cola in 1931. Leyendecker's vision of Santa in this Kuppenheimer piece is robust and atheletic; more strapping woodsman than jolly suburbanite soda-sipper! Thus this sensational painting presents a winning pair of icons, the modern successful American male and the modern Santa Claus. <BR><BR><Keywords: oil, painting, advertisement, fashion, Gibson, portrait, Santa Claus, Christmas> <BR><BR><B>Important notice:</B> Heritage usually auctions material at the rate of 200-250 lots per hour. On some occasions eBay Live bid software or the Internet may not be able to keep up with the pace of the auction. We recommend placing a realistic absentee bid now as insurance to avoid disappointment. Occasionally the auctioneer may eliminate or reject an eBay Live bid, and the auctioneer may also reopen a lot after the close of the eBay live bidding (usually because we missed an audience bid), and may reject your bid even if it shows you as the winning bidder. By bidding via eBay Live, you agree that Heritage may award the lot to another bidder at its sole discretion under the circumstances described above or any other reasonable circumstances. Since eBay bids are not shown to us until we open the lot on the floor, we treat those bids just like floor bids. In most cases the floor responds before the eBay bid is presented to us, due to Internet lag time, so for consistency we have made it a policy that floor bids are always considered first over tie eBay live bids. Also please note that all Heritage lots purchased through eBay Live carry a 24.5% Buyer's Premium. Please make sure you read the Terms and Conditions before you bid.