Skip to main content

Joseph Christian Leyendecker Figurative Paintings

American, 1874-1951

Joseph Christian "J.C." Leyendecker was born in Germany in 1874. He immigrated to the United States with his family in 1882. His eldest brother, Adolph, became a prominent stained glass artist, and Joe, as he was called, had an early artistic calling. 

After studying at the Chicago Art Institute under John H. Vanderpoel, J.C. Leyendecker enrolled at the Académie Julien in 1896, where he studied for a year with his younger brother Frank in the Beaux-Arts tradition. During his time there, he was exposed to and influenced by the works of Art Nouveau painters and printmakers Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Jules Chéret and Alphonse Mucha, with whom he formed a strong friendship. The next year, he staged his first one-man exhibition at the Salon du Champ-de-Mars and made the auspicious acquaintance of Paul Gauguin

In 1898, Leyendecker produced the first of 48 covers for Collier’s magazine. The next year, he painted his first cover for The Saturday Evening Post magazine, which was the beginning of a 44-year association with that esteemed publication. Throughout his career, he would also paint covers for Life magazine, illustrations for a library of books, and transform advertising for such companies as B. Kuppenheimer & Co. and Interwoven Socks. His work for Arrow Shirt is the most well-known and beloved. 

Using his lover and manager, Charles Beach, as a model, Leyendecker created the ultimate image of modern American masculinity. His work for Kuppenheimer, also known as the House of Kuppenheimer, is just as iconic. Founded in 1876, the company became the manufacturer of uniforms for the United States Army during World War I. Thanks to Leyendecker's advertising, the firm became synonymous with the ultimate in male taste and desirability. 

Unfortunately, near the end of his career, as Leyendecker’s associations with Collier’s and The Saturday Evening Post came to an end, his work fell into obscurity. When he died in 1951, his great friend Norman Rockwell, who commemorated their relationship in his painting Waiting for the Art Editor, served as one of his pallbearers.

Find original J.C. Leyendecker prints and paintings on 1stDibs.

(Biography provided by M.S. Rau)

to
5
4
5
1
2
2
Overall Height
to
Overall Width
to
5
3
3
2
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
2
65
13
14
15
7
1
1
19
5
4
3
5
5
3
3
1
Period: Early 1900s
Artist: Joseph Christian Leyendecker
Woman and Tiger
By Joseph Christian Leyendecker
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Signed by artist lower left. The Century Illustrated Monthly Magazine Cover
Category

Early 1900s Joseph Christian Leyendecker Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil, Gouache

Christ with Sainted Knights
By Joseph Christian Leyendecker
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Medium: Oil on Canvas Signature: Signed Lower Right J. C. Leyendecker’s illustrations and advertisements fueled a collective visual memory for the early 20th century American public. Over the course of his career, Leyendecker created 322 covers for The Saturday Evening Post, as well as numerous other magazines, including Collier’s and Ladies’ Home Journal. The only illustrator to eclipse his fame was Norman Rockwell and Rockwell was quick to credit Leyendecker as his mentor and inspiration. This previously unknown work was recently discovered at a small country auction in South Carolina. It is likely an early work by Leyendecker, dating to circa 1900. The sinuous reddish orange flames emitted by the slain dragon recall the steam and vapors found in his later work, including an advertisement for Ivory Soap and a Thanksgiving cover for The Saturday Evening Post. The chiseled features and elegant expressions of the two knights and Christ are similar to those of his many successful advertising campaigns and illustrations. The inclusion of columns and the decorative border also are seen in works ranging from the 1901 Thanksgiving edition cover of Success magazine...
Category

Early 1900s Joseph Christian Leyendecker Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

New Years Baby, Saturday Evening Post Cover, 1907
By Joseph Christian Leyendecker
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Medium: Oil Painting Signature: Signed Lower Right Sight Size 24.00" x 20.00", Framed 31.00" x 27.00" The Saturday Evening Post cover illustration, December 1907
Category

Early 1900s Joseph Christian Leyendecker Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil

The Courtship, Success Magazine Cover
By Joseph Christian Leyendecker
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Medium: Oil on Canvas Signature: Signed Lower Left Sight Size 22.00" x 15.50", Framed 31.00" x 24.00" Success Magazine Cover, The Success Company, Ne...
Category

Early 1900s Joseph Christian Leyendecker Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Which One? Saturday Evening Post Cover
By Joseph Christian Leyendecker
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Medium: Oil on Canvas Signature: Signed Lower Right Sight Size 28.00" x 24.00", Framed 30.00" x 27.00" Cover of Saturday Evening Post Magazine, October 31, 1908. Exhibitions: It's a Man's World, Illustration Art by and for Men: November 14-17 2012, Illustration House NYC The National Arts Club NYC Jan 6- 19 2013 Christie's New York, Illustrating America: Norman Rockwell and His Contemporaries, November 30, 2013- January, 2014 Joseph Christian Leyendecker was one of the most famous and prolific illustrators of his time and painted one less cover for The Saturday Evening Post than Norman Rockwell. He was the creator of the cherubic New Year’s Baby and the handsome Arrow Shirt Man who set the style for men’s fashion for decades. In addition to his beautiful men, women and children, Leyendecker’s covers and advertisements depicted subjects ranging from sports to war to politics. This 1908 Post cover shows a young newsboy holding pictures of William Howard Taft...
Category

Early 1900s Joseph Christian Leyendecker Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Related Items
A. J. Bennett - Light and Shade - Post Impressionist Painting, South Africa 1919
Located in Meinisberg, CH
A. J. Bennett (South African, fl. Early 20th century) Light and Shade • Oil on canvas artist board ca. 42.5 x 29.5 cm • Later frame ca. 53.5 x 41 cm Worldwide shipping is complime...
Category

1910s Post-Impressionist Joseph Christian Leyendecker Figurative Paintings

Materials

Board, Oil, Canvas

Presence - portrait of a moment - oil painting on blue background
Located in Bogotá, Bogotá
Oil painting of a presence that emerges on the canvas from another existential plane, accompanied by other beings. With dimensions of 27" x 27" inches, and a royal blue background. T...
Category

2010s Contemporary Joseph Christian Leyendecker Figurative Paintings

Materials

Cotton Canvas, Oil

Antique Irish Oil Canvas Fishing Maritime Painting William P Rogers Dublin 1870
By William P. Rogers
Located in Portland, OR
A good & whimsical oil on canvas painting by the Irish painter William P. Rogers (fl 1846-1872). The work depicts a fisherman mending his nets, with baskets & ropes to the foreground...
Category

1870s Victorian Joseph Christian Leyendecker Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Edwardian Beach Scene, British 20th century oil on canvas
Located in Hillsborough, NC
Richly-colored and vibrant Edwardian Beach Scene, British oil painting on canvas in impressionist style, presented in contemporary gold frame. The oil paint is raised and textured, l...
Category

20th Century Impressionist Joseph Christian Leyendecker Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil, Canvas

Coca Cola ... Si?! II - Painting Pop Art Red Green Purple Brown Blue Orange
By Vlado Vesselinov
Located in Sofia, BG
"Coca Cola ... Si?! II" is a painting by Maestro Vlado Vesselinov. About the painting: Style and Technic: POP ART, Contemporary, Gouache, oil on c...
Category

2010s Pop Art Joseph Christian Leyendecker Figurative Paintings

Materials

Gouache, Canvas, Oil, Acrylic

Tigers - 21st Century, Contemporary, Figurative Painting, Oil, Canvas, Animals
By Corvengi
Located in Barcelona, Catalonia
“Everything that surrounds me affects me. Memories, politics, nature, people, a dry leaf on the ground, music and books.” Corvengi’s works explore his version of a lost paradise, an...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Joseph Christian Leyendecker Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Knud Sinding, Kitchen Interior With Mother & Child, Oil Painting
Located in Cheltenham, GB
This charming early-20th-century oil painting by Danish artist Knud Sinding (1898-1947) depicts a kitchen interior with mother and child. A gentle br...
Category

1910s Impressionist Joseph Christian Leyendecker Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Christian Zeimert "Gentilly", 1972
Located in Washington, DC
Painting by French artist Christian Zeimert (b.1934 – 2020). Signed in lower right corner and titled on reverse "Gentilly". Zeimert's painted slow and meticulously. It took him se...
Category

1970s Conceptual Joseph Christian Leyendecker Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Scottish Impressionist 20th century oil, figures inside a clothing market
By Murray McNeel Caird Urquhart
Located in Woodbury, CT
Scottish Impressionist 20th century oil, figures inside a clothing market. He exhibited at the Royal Academy; Royal Society of British Artists; Royal Hibernian Academy; Royal Glasgow Institute of Fine Arts; Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours. Murray Urquhart was the son of Dr. Andrew Urquhart, Oakley, Kirkcudbright.  His mother, who died two weeks after Murray’s birth, was the daughter of Alexander McNeel Caird, Procurator Fiscal for Wigtownshire. This is a very unusual subject and market scenes like this are quite rare, I guess due to the complex nature of the subject and the difficulty in balancing the composition. The artist has done a wonderful job of painting this subject, it is a wonderful example of Scottish Impressionist painting...
Category

1930s Impressionist Joseph Christian Leyendecker Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Young Female Ballet dancer
Located in Wilton Manors, FL
Beautiful WPA era ca. 1930s portrait of a ballet dancer signed F. Miller. Oil on canvas measuring 18 x 24 inches; 24 x 30 inches in contemporary frame. Signed on back.
Category

1930s Realist Joseph Christian Leyendecker Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Early 20th Century Worcestershire landscape oil painting of a plough team
By David Bates b.1840
Located in Moreton-In-Marsh, Gloucestershire
David Bates British, (1840-1921) The Plough Team, Bredon’s Norton Oil on canvas, signed & dated 1908, further inscribed verso Image size: 15.5 inches x 23.5 inches Size including frame: 21.5 inches x 29.5 inches A lovely landscape painting of a plough team on a country track near Bredon’s Norton by David Bates. Bredon’s Norton is a village located in the Cotswolds, on the slopes of Bredon Hill in South Worcestershire. The America women’s rights activist Victoria Woodhull Martin moved to the village in 1901 and by 1908 had set up an agricultural school for women at her Norton’s Park estate. The Antarctic explore Raymond Priestley also lived there. Although Bates was living in Surrey at the time of this painting, he would have been familiar with the area after having lived and worked in Worcestershire for some considerable time. He would have also most likely been aware of Victoria Woodhull Martin and the school. David Bates was born in March, Cambridge in 1840 to Benjamin Bates a shoe maker and Sarah Bates. By 1851, the family had moved to Upton upon Severn in Worcestershire and from 1855 Bates became an apprentice at the Royal Worcester Porcelain Works in Worcester. There he developed his artistic talent, painting flower decorations onto vases and plates. At some point after 1861, he became a full time artist and made his debut at the Royal Academy in 1863, continuing to exhibit there until 1893. He also exhibited at the Royal Birmingham Society of Artists, Suffolk Street and the Grosvenor Gallery. He married Elizabeth Higgs from Worcester in 1867 and they lived at Cherry Orchard, Bath Road in Worcester where their children were later born. Their second child John Bates Noel (1870-1927) became a landscape artist and their younger son David Samuel...
Category

19th Century Victorian Joseph Christian Leyendecker Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil, Canvas

"Lilacs on the table in the garden" Oil cm. 140 x 125
By Georgij Moroz
Located in Torino, IT
Lilac, garden, flowers, violet,Ukraine Very important work Georgij MOROZ (Dneprodzerzinsk, Ucraina, 1937 - St. Petersburg, 2015) 1937: he was born in Dneprodzerzinsk, Ucraina. 1949-56: he began artistic studies in Dneprodzerzinsk and later he attended the School of Fine Arts in Kiev. 1956-62: he attended the Academy of Fine Art of Saint Petersburg. 1960: he began his activity taking part in many exhibitions in Russia and abroad. 1973: member of the Union of the Artists. 1980: exhibitions in Austria, Hungary, Japan...
Category

1990s Impressionist Joseph Christian Leyendecker Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Previously Available Items
The Discus Thrower, Collier's Magazine Cover
By Joseph Christian Leyendecker
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Signed by Artist Signed Lower Right The Discus Thrower, The American Victory at Athens, Collier's Weekly magazine cover, June 9, 1906 LITERATURE: L.S. Cutler and J.G. Cutler, J.C. ...
Category

Early 1900s Joseph Christian Leyendecker Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil

Bonneted Lady in Church, Easter Saturday Evening Post Cover
By Joseph Christian Leyendecker
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Medium: Oil on Board Signature: Signed Middle Left Cover of Saturday Evening Post magazine (Easter edition), April 1905. This is one of Leyendecker's first Easter covers for the Sa...
Category

Early 1900s Joseph Christian Leyendecker Figurative Paintings

Materials

Board, Oil

July 4th Edition, Saturday Evening Post Cover
By Joseph Christian Leyendecker
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Date: July 4, 1908 Medium: Oil on Canvas Dimensions: 27.25" x 21.00" Signature: Signed Lower Right The Saturday Evening Post cover, Holiday Edition, July ...
Category

Early 1900s Joseph Christian Leyendecker Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil, Canvas

Joseph Christian Leyendecker figurative paintings for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Joseph Christian Leyendecker figurative paintings available for sale on 1stDibs. If you’re browsing the collection of figurative paintings to introduce a pop of color in a neutral corner of your living room or bedroom, you can find work that includes elements of orange, green and other colors. You can also browse by medium to find art by Joseph Christian Leyendecker in paint, oil paint, canvas and more. Much of the original work by this artist or collective was created during the 20th century and is mostly associated with the modern style. Not every interior allows for large Joseph Christian Leyendecker figurative paintings, so small editions measuring 1 inch across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of Leslie Thrasher, Hunt Slonem, and Adam Mysock. Joseph Christian Leyendecker figurative paintings prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $6,900 and tops out at $855,000, while the average work can sell for $114,500.

Recently Viewed

View All