By Joseph Francis Kernan
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Signature: Signed Lower Right
Original cover for The Saturday Evening Post, published August 8, 1936 and reprinted for the July / August 1996 issue.
Kernan's Final Post Cover
In the Eleventh Olympiad, Joseph Francis Kernan’s final cover for The Saturday Evening Post, a sprinter channels the speed and power of an eagle while preparing to represent the United States at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin. Kernan created 26 covers for The Saturday Evening Post between 1924 and 1936.
Kernan’s depiction of the athlete was a fitting conclusion for the artist’s Post commissions, as much of his life’s work celebrated sportsmen and outdoor life. This now iconic cover held such impact that it was published twice – first on August 8, 1936, and later for the July / August 1996 issue to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the modern Olympic Games that took place in Atlanta, Georgia.
Jesse Owens and the 1936 Summer Olympics
The 1936 Summer Olympics were held from August 1 to 16 in Berlin, Germany, which was then under Adolf Hitler’s Nazi regime. The track and field competition garnered special attention that year, as Jesse Owens, the African American sprinter and long jumper, took home a historic four gold medals. Owens took center stage at the Games, setting new records in the 100- and 200-meter sprints, the long jump, and helped his team win a record-setting 4 x 100-meter relay.
Jesse Owens and Ralph Metcalfe were not initially scheduled to compete in the relay. On the morning of the event, it was announced that Owens and Metcalfe would take the places of Marty Glickman and Sam Stoller, the only Jews on the U.S. track team. Glickman later blamed the controversial decision on the U.S. Olympic Committee president Avery Brundage and track coach Dean Cromwell, accusing them of appeasing the Nazi regime’s anti-semitism.
The magnitude of Owens’ achievements as a black athlete was multiplied by the fact that Hitler had unsuccessfully attempted to use the Summer Olympics to validate his theories of Aryan racial superiority. As the first Games to be televised, and with radio broadcasts reaching 41 countries, Hitler envisioned the Olympics as a way to disseminate Nazi propaganda. The German Olympic...
Category
20th Century Joseph Francis Kernan Art
