Before Rockwell, a Gay Artist

Before Rockwell, a Gay Artist Defined the Perfect American Maleecker’s name is almost forgotten, whitewashed over by Norman Rockwell’s legacy of tame, small-town Americana.

Rockwell was just an 11-year old kid when Leyendecker created the legendary “Arrow Collar Man” in 1905, used to advertise the clothing company’s miraculous detachable collars. One of America’s first recognizable sex symbols, this icon of masculinity was defined by his poise and perfection, whether on the sports field or at the dinner table. Like the Gibson Girl, the Arrow Collar Man developed a singular identity, equal parts jock and dandy, who supposedly received more fan letters than silent film heartthrob Rudolph Valentino. To top things off, Leyendecker’s men were often modeled after his lover and lifetime companion, Charles Beach, making their secret romance a front-page feature across the U.S.

J.C. Leyendecker in 1895.

Born in 1874, Joseph Christian Leyendecker emigrated with his family from Germany to Chicago in 1882 and soon began apprenticing with illustrators. After a brief stint studying art in Paris, Leyendecker returned to Chicago, where he established relationships with renowned magazines like “Collier’s” and “The Saturday Evening Post,” for whom he would ultimately design 322 covers. (To view more Leyendecker images, see our slideshow.)

While Leyendecker was also known for his depictions of apple-cheeked children and elegant women, it was his stern, brooding men who created the greatest impact. With their strong jaws and perfectly tailored clothes, Leyendecker’s men were featured in the pages ofnewspapers and magazines across the globe, selling everything from luxury automobiles to socks. Leyendecker’s fictional world of affluence and beauty influenced other pop-culture touchstones, like the fantastic setting of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby.”

As fashions changed and the U.S. entered World War II, Leyendecker’s career slumped, curbing his extravagant lifestyle. After his death of a heart attack in 1951, Leyendecker left few assets for his partner, Charles Beach, and many of his original paintings were sold at a rummage sale for $75 each. Alfredo Villanueva-Collado, a former literature professor at the City University of New York and established collector of Bohemian art glass, filled us in on his J.C. Leyendecker collection and the fascinating story behind this oft-neglected male image maker.

This 1932 Leyendecker cover image for the “Saturday Evening Post” literally puts the near-naked male on a pedestal.

Collectors Weekly: How did you first discover J.C. Leyendecker?

Villanueva-Collado: My partner was a graphic artist, and when we first arrived to the U.S. we were really into the Arts and Crafts movement. But, of course, his thing was graphics, and when we started researching, we found out there was life before Norman Rockwell. And then we found out what kind of life, and we went, “What? Leyendecker’s gay? No, it can’t be.” It freaked me out, and I’ve never been in the closet.

“This man had the gall to make his lover the icon of American masculinity.”

I first realized Leyendecker was gay from the subtext, and then went looking for evidence through my research, and the evidence was there. It was often mentioned in passing, since the intimate details only came out later. Leyendecker knew very well he couldn’t break barriers; he could only suggest the subject.

As a literature professor, I was fascinated by the semiotics of Leyendecker’s images, because I know a lot of gay artists had to use what I call the “palimpsest technique.” Palimpsest refers to the fact that parchment used to be so expensive they would have to paint it over to write something new, and that is the essence of semiotics, the text that is hidden beneath the visible text. Especially in literature, in anything having to do with gays, it’s been done to perfection. You have to hide it, not expose it like you can today.

In this 1907 Leyendecker painting for Arrow dress shirts, all eyes lead to the dapper man in brown.

Leyendecker had a fascination with asses, with muscles, and it was so evident. I kept wondering, how come nobody else says this? It’s right in your face, for heaven’s sake. I found it extremely interesting that there were three brothers–of which both Frank and J.C. turned out gay–and a sister, Augusta, who never married.

Both of the Leyendecker brothers were in Paris at a very crucial moment in 1884. They absorbed the academic French way of drawing, but it was also the time when Baron Von Gloeden’s photographs were all over the place. Von Gloeden was gay and also idolized the masculine body. This went contrary to the contemporary worshipping of the female body as a siren or as a vampire, and foretold–I hate to say–the Nazi aesthetic, the worship of the male body. But they didn’t know that, and that was not their intention.

Who knew socks could seem so sexy? Interwoven advertisement, circa 1927.

When I first started collecting Leyendecker, I bought whatever was offered; I wanted the image. In fact, many times I bought the entire magazine. Most people do not realize it, but the “Saturday Evening Post” was an extremely right-wing publication. You should see the articles against the New Deal. But they have fascinating images.

I wasn’t buying Leyendecker’s work because I knew it would go up in price; I was buying it because I became obsessed with this man who had the gall to make his lover the icon of American masculinity. I was very interested in the construction of the masculine subject, and it gave me no end of tickles that the man who created icons like the Arrow man and the Chesterfield man was gay.

But I think that the ultimate finger in the eye was the Lady Liberty poster from World War I[see slideshow]. Beach is both the lady and the Boy Scout, and considering what’s going on today with the Boy Scouts, it’s amazing. Paul Ryan would be a Leyendecker boy!

Collectors Weekly: When did Leyendecker first paint Charles Beach?

Villanueva-Collado: J.C. was 29, but Beach, who must have been quite a hunk, was only 17. For the first few years, the brothers kept an apartment here in New York, and Beach had some kind of residence nearby. But then when the Leyendeckers moved to their mansion in New Rochelle in 1914, which J.C. had built, Beach moved in with them. Their sister, Augusta, apparently hated him from the moment she saw him. Beach not only became Leyendecker’s favorite model but also the man who ran the household, and their relationship lasted 50 years.

They hosted these crazy 1920s Belle Epoch parties that Beach organized, and the crème de la crème of New York society went there. I was totally flabbergasted when I found references in “The Great Gatsby.” Then I found out that people like Fredric March, George Hamilton, and a lot of other very famous males posed for Leyendecker.

And then, of course, Leyendecker’s sexuality should have been very clear with his Interwoven Sock ads, which Beach posed for. When I first posted these images on Collectors Weekly, I said “I’m going to get into real trouble now” because you don’t debunk an idol. But this is not debunking; this is what he was.

Left, an early Arrow advertisement circa 1910 and right, a 1915 painting for Cooper Union Suits, both modeled by Leyendecker’s partner, Charles Beach.

What were some of Leyendecker’s other major advertising campaigns?

Villanueva-Collado: Leyendecker also did Kellogg’s; he did Karo Syrup; he did Maxwell’s Coffee. He did some hysterical advertising for Gillette [see slideshow]. And Kuppenheimer clothing, of course, that was enormous. He did Chesterfield cigarettes and then posters for both wars.

Cleanliness is next to godliness: This atypical Ivory Soap advertisement from 1922 features a priest.

In his Ivory Soap commercials, there are these languid column-like figures, very statuesque pseudo-brothers or priests. This monk is holding up a bar of soap. The text reads, “Ivory Soap: It floats.” Since when do you use a man to sell soap?

There’s one ad that I adore, a fabric called “Trojan Weave” created for Kuppenheimer, which appeared on April 29, 1927. In this ad, there’s a Greek warrior for strength and a Greek maiden for beauty. For the longest time, I was puzzled by the “Trojan Weave” advertisement, and I was specifically intrigued by the “Trojan” warrior on the left, since Trojans are also condoms.

A friend of mine found a fascinating Internet posting called Leyendecker Studies, which included originals for both sides of the Kuppenheimer ad. In the Trojan warrior study, I noticed the helmet bore no crest. But in the finished Kuppenheimer advertisement for “Trojan Weave,” it does feature a crest, immediately below the word “Trojan.” While researching the history of Trojan condoms I found out they hit the market at the beginning of 1927. One detail caught my attention: the maker’s stated purpose to eschew overt or offensive sexual references, so the logo was to be a simple Trojan helmet, implying strength and protection. I looked for images of the packaging. Even today, a crested helmet is their logo!

Therefore, it can be assumed that in 1927 Leyendecker changed his Trojan warrior’s helmet, adding the crest as a sly reference to the new latex condom that had just hit the market. Talk about semiotics and palimpsests.

I’m amazed that this particular artist was able to get away with so much, as the foremost male image maker of the ’20s and ’30s. The American people swore by these images, and the Arrow Collar Man received fan letters by the ton from women. But the gays were probably petrified.

Some of Leyendecker’s most monumental works were for the Kuppenheimer clothing company. The men in this 1929 ad, all resembling Charles Beach, seem to be paying more attention to each other than their gorgeous mermaid friend.

Collectors Weekly: What was the connection between Norman Rockwell and J.C. Leyendecker?

Villanueva-Collado: Norman Rockwell worshipped Leyendecker, but bad-mouthed him to death in his own biography. He was especially cruel to Beach, whom everybody seemed to hate because he was too good-looking, too prepossessing.

In terms of my research, I’ve been trying to find illustrators that were doing covers at the same time Leyendecker was. And it’s very interesting; all of the Leyendecker landmarks were copied by the other illustrators, including Rockwell. Somebody ought to dethrone Rockwell and do a study of Leyendecker’s influence on him.

J.C. Leyendecker’s illustration for Interwoven Socks from 1921 and Norman Rockwell’s “G.I. Bill” from 1947 show striking similarities.

Collectors Weekly: Is there a larger art-world stigma against illustration?

Villanueva-Collado:  There definitely is a stigma. The Met has never touched so-called commercial art. I find it totally insulting that the American wing of the Met does not have him anywhere. The American wing of the Met does not have anything relating to American illustration, and if they do, it’s not out, not even Rockwell. This is such an important part of American art.

These were all paintings. Leyendecker did not work from photographs, like Maxfield Parrish did. He had a live model in his studio, adjusted the light, painted the canvas and then the canvas was reproduced. Forget about today’s technology. He was a painter, an illustrator.

Collectors Weekly: How would you describe Leyendecker’s imagery?

Villanueva-Collado: Well, it’s very interesting because President Roosevelt called these images of American males “the commoner.” But this is not the commoner. This is the American macho male before his aggrandizement as a killing machine. His soldiers, beautiful as they are, are always shown helping others, saving others. It was the Doughboy image, the World War II image.

Leyendecker’s painting of Mercury, the god of speed, for Collier’s in 1907 draws from classical sculpture.

His sportsmen aren’t really competitors. They were an image of the American male as huge and beautiful, but not threatening. Even in those incredible World War I posters, especially the ones with sailors, there was a real subtext of sexuality there. It seems that the Navy has had this reputation for all of its existence.

But there was no coarseness. These people were not tattooed. They had no piercings. They were normal people blown to heroic Greek proportions. His cover for “Collier’s” of the God of Speed is totally Roman. You look at these people and you are also looking their connection with the heroes or the gods of antiquity.

His females are always funny: In classic marriage pictures, the male is traditionally standing up and the woman is sitting down. His are exactly the opposite. She’s always standing up with her hand on his shoulder. The 1931 cover for the 4th of July, which I love, is this woman talking and this patriot with his hands up and yarn tied around them. He stood common images on their heads.

His pictures of black people are fascinating. He never went overboard with sympathy–they were still submissive–but it would send a clear message. Nothing sadder than the little boy dressed up in military garb being dusted off by a black porter [see slideshow]. Who is the boy in this picture? Porters were called “boys,” so the boy is the old black man. The images hurt once you really read them.

Leyendecker’s distinct cross-hatch style is seen in this 1911 painting for Cluett Dress shirts, featuring a particularly intimate gaze between two gentlemen.

Collectors Weekly: Do you think all the nudity shocked people?

This gorgeous Art-Deco style illustration from 1929 shows Spring represented as a Greek god.

Villanueva-Collado: No, because that was seen as Art. Many sculptures of the period by American artists trained in France have these massive masculine bodies. What you do not find in Leyendecker’s work is the naked female body. It is never shown anywhere. And it’s interesting because one of his influences was Alphonse Mucha, who did many semi-exposed women, but Leyendecker did not. I’ve looked at enough of his work to say this with a degree of certainty.

Interestingly enough, nudity in art was far more accepted in that early period than it would be by the American puritans in the robotic period

By Hunter Oatman-Stanford — August 28th, 2012

Nobody had to tell J.C. Leyendecker that sex sells. Before the conservative backlash of the mid-20th century, the American public celebrated his images of sleek muscle-men, whose glistening homo-eroticism adorned endless magazine covers. Yet Leyend of the ’50s. Women had a lot of freedom during World War II, but once their husbands came back home, they were housewives again. It was not until the ’60s that the thing exploded.

Probably my favorite magazine cover is this picture of this monster of a puritan, this fat pilgrim with a wig, and carrying a gun and a Bible [see slideshow]. You couldn’t say it clearer. He portrayed the Tea Party 70 years before it became a reality. It’s there for all of us to see. And I know that a lot of my friends, even the most liberal ones kind of say “Oh my god, did he actually do that?”

Collectors Weekly: What kind of long-term influence have his images had?

Villanueva-Collado: He definitely changed advertising. He broke with the rectangular format. Before, the lettering had to be at the top, but he broke the lettering with these circles that he borrowed from Japanese design.

I’m not a graphic artist, but I know Leyendecker did something to these covers that nobody else had done. Covers had a format and he did away with it. He put provocative covers on these magazines. Leyendecker’s four last war covers are obscene.

To me, to have a naked baby with a helmet and a bayonet going after a swastika is–I don’t want to sound prudish–but it’s too much. That was actually the very last cover ever created for “Saturday Evening Post.” It tells you more than you want to know about how he viewed American culture.

ART DECO GAY

Romain de Tirtoff (Erté) born 23 November 1892 (d.1990)

Romain de Tirtoff (Erté)

Romain de Tirtoff (Erté) born 23 November 1892 (d.1990)

Romain de Tirtoff (pseudonym Erté, a French pronunciation of initials RT) was a French artist and designer.

Tirtoff was born as Roman Petrovich Tyrtov in St Petersburg, Russian Empire to a very distinguished family. His father Pyotr Ivanovich Tyrtov was a Fleet Admiral.

Erté discovered a love of costuming through the ballet. By his teens, he was sketching his own designs and at age 20 ventured to Paris to pursue a career as a designer. This decision was made over strong objections of his father, who wanted Romain to continue a family tradition and to become a marine officer. Romain assumed the pseudonym to avoid disgracing the family. He first drew attention for his costumes for Mata Hari and in 1915 he got his first significant contract with Harper's Bazaar magazine.

Between the two world wars, Erté designed spectacular scenery and costumes for the ballet, opera, theatre, and music-hall. His work on the Ziegfeld Follies, the Folies-Bergère, and shows at the Casino de Paris and the London Palladium is considered some of his best. But Erté's imagination stretched far beyond clothing. He designed everything from fabric, linens, and furniture to handbags, watches, and perfume bottles.

Erté is perhaps most famous for his elegant fashion designs which capture the art deco period in which he worked. His delicate figures and sophisticated, glamorous designs are instantly recognisable, and his ideas and art influence fashion into the 21st century.

Although Erté continued to work extensively throughout the 1950s and 1960s, it was not until the Art Deco revival of the 1970s and 1980s that his work again became fashionable, particularly in the United States. Many of his lithographs became popular posters.

By far his best known image isSymphony in Black [pictured], depicting a tall, slender woman draped in black holding a thin black dog. This influential image has been reproduced and copied countless times.

In 1975, he published a memoir,Things I Remember: An Autobiography. While discreet, the book is frank about the number and nature of his romantic liaisons, including descriptions of the homosexual demi-monde of 1920s Paris.

Vigorous and working until the end, Erté died on April 21, 1990 at the age of 97. His unique vision and genuine talent have made him a lasting fashion icon.

ARTE DECO

Art Decó. Estilo propio de las artes decorativas desarrollado en el periodo de entreguerras, entre 1920 y 1939 en Europa y América. Alcanzó su máximo esplendor en la Exposición Internacional de Artes Decorativas de París de 1925. Se caracteriza por la profusión ornamental, el lujo de los materiales y el frecuente recurso a motivos geométricos y vegetales. Como síntesis se puede decir que el Art Déco ante todo buscó la decoración por encima de la funcionalidad. El término Art Déco, abarca un amplio abanico de ramas y especialidades del arte y la artesanía, las cuales se dieron cita en la Exposition Internationale de Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes de 1925 y que, posteriormente se conmemoró con una retrospectiva celebrada en París el 16 marzo de 1966, bajo el título "Les Annes 25", en el Musée des Arts Décoratifs. En 1912, Francia proyectó celebrar una Exposición Internacional que se inauguraría en 1915, en donde se expondrían los productos, adelantos industriales y avances técnicos de todos los países. Sin embargo, como consecuencia de los acontecimientos que se desataron en 1914 desencadenando la Primera Guerra Mundial, dicho evento tuvo que posponerse "sin edie". Una vez finalizado el conflicto en 1918, se retomó dicha idea y se programó la inauguración de la citada Exposición, para 1922, pero los problemas financieros y de reconstrucción económica, pospusieron tal evento hasta 1925. Para ubicar esta magna muestra se pensó en el Grand Palais, el cual se acondicionó para tal ocasión, aunque por exigencias de participación, hubo de construirse un pabellón que albergara a los veintiún países participantes, siendo el director arquitectónico Charles Plumet. Como artistas representantes del Déco, entre otros, debemos citar: Maurice Dufrene, Jean Dunand (1877-1942), André Groult (1884-1967), Pierre Chareau (1883-1959), Paul Follot, el polonés Joseph Czajkowski (1872-1947), soviético de Konstantin Melnikov (1890-1974). Característica generales del Art Déco que fueron utilizadas tanto en decoración, como en arquitectura : E el Art Déco se basa principalmente en la geometría imperante del cubo, la esfera y la línea recta, además de los imprescindibles zigzags. Tratan de representar algunas abstracciones que muestran en la naturaleza, rayos luminosos radiantes, fluidos acuáticos, nubes ondulantes.. Representación faunística haciendo referencia a ciertas cualidades como la velocidad y usan para ello gacelas, galgos, panteras palomas, garzas.. Representación de elementos fitomorfos se utilizan las flores, los cactus, las palmeras, representados por medio de delineaciones geométricas. Utiliza imágenes de fuentes congelas de formas ascendentes. Utilización de nuevos materiales como la baquelita, el cromo y el plástico, maderas nobles el ébano y el palisandro, pieles naturales de zapa, de tiburón y el carey. Se utilizan motivos de las culturas prehispanas de las culturas azteca, maya o inca y motivos inspirados en los objetos de los descubrimientos arqueológicos de Egipto, mesopotamia, vikingo o de los pueblos africanos o indios. En arquitectura, además de las formas geométricas, se recurre a remates terminados escalonadamente y con proas marítimas que sostienen mástiles que sirven como astas; arcos y puertas ochavadas y lujosos materiales como el mármol, el granito y el aluminio consuman el aparato decorativo. Se utiliza la figura humana de hombres gimnastas, obreros, habitantes de las urbes, luciendo el "look" de la época, junto a la de mujeres resueltas que participan en la producción económica, vistiendo una moda más atrevida, con el pelo corto a la "garzón" que fuman y participan en cócteles, denotando su liberación. Para finalizar recogemos dos definiciones del Art Déco. Alastair Duncan, en la Enciclopedia of Art Deco, recoge la siguiente definición: "No es fácil definir las principales características del Art Déco, porque el estilo atrajo una multitud de diversas y, con frecuencia, contradictorias influencias. Muchas de ellas vinieron de los estilos pictóricos de vanguardia de los tempranos años del siglo, como el Cubismo, el Constructivismo Ruso y el Futurismo Italiano -abstracción, distorsión y simplificación- todos evidentes en las artes vernáculas decorativas Art Deco. Pero estos no fueron todos: una examen del repertorio de motivos estandarizados del estilo tales como -racimos de flores estilizadas, jóvenes doncellas, geométricos y ubicuos frutos- revelan influencias del mundo de la alta moda, de Egipto, el Oriente, la África tribal y de los Ballets Rusos de Diaghilev. A partir de 1925 el creciente impacto de la máquina puede ser discernido en repetidas y superpuestas imágenes, o más tarde, en los treinta, por formas modernizadas derivadas de principios aerodinámicos. Todo esto resultó en una elevada amalgama de complejas influencias artísticas, descritas desafiantemente por una simple frase, el término Art Déco". Fancy Susan Sternau en la obra Art Déco lo describe de la siguiente forma: "Desarrollado en París y más tarde fomentado en Hollywood como el estilo de las estrellas, el Art Deco hizo la transición, en unos pocos años, de un primarío estilo francés a un universalmente entendido símbolo del glamour. Art Deco, es un conveniente término usado para describir arte decorativo en el período entre las dos guerras mundiales, y refiere a un estilo que es clásico, simétrico y rectilíneo. Como movimiento se desarrolló durante los años 1908 a 1912 y alcanzó un alto punto de 1925 a 1935. Este estilo fue el producto de influencias tan diversas como el Art Nouveau, Cubismo, el Bauhaus y el arte de Egipto, el Oriente, "Africa y las Américas".

El art nouveau

Art Nouveau.		El art nouveau
				El art nouveau (arte nuevo) es un movimiento artístico que surge a fines del siglo XIX y se proyecta hasta las primeras décadas del siglo XX. Generalmente se expresa en la arquitectura y en el diseño Se podría afirmar que es un estilo decorativo desarrollado durante la Belle époque en Europa y Estados Unidos. Toma su nombre a raiz de una exposición que realiza Munch en la galería parisina "La maison del Art Nouveau", diseñada por Siegfrid Bing (1838-1905), aunque se conoce con distintos nombres según los países: modernismo en España, Jugendstil en Alemania, Sezession (en Austria), Liberty en Inglaterra, Floreale en Italia, modernisme o Estilo modernista en Cataluña etc. Recurría a líneas sinuosas y composiciones asimétricas. Los motivos más frecuentes eran flores, hojas y la figura femenina. Se aplicó al diseño de interiores, joyas, forja, vidrio, cerámica, telas y, sobre todo, a la ilustración, que alcanzó gran popularidad gracias al invento de la litografía. Una de las características principales del Art Nouveau es que se adapta a las circunstancias de la vida moderna, por lo que se halla intimamente ligado a la producción industrial, desarrollándose en dos vertientes: la arquitectura y el diseño gráfico. Características generales del Art Nouveau: Se desligó del Simbolismo en busca de una autenticidad de época. Es el primer movimiento que se desprende casi por completo de la imitación de estilos anteriores (Renacimiento, Barroco, Neoclasicismo, Romanticismo, etc.) en busca de la identidad de lo urbano y lo moderno, puesto que nacía un nuevo siglo. Utiliza técnicas que le son propias: la reproducción mecánica, como la xilografía, el cartelismo, la impresión... Estéticamente resultan imágenes planas, lineales, ornamentales, que se reducen a una economía de medios que las dota de singular belleza, se alejan de la figuración para centrarse en el mero adorno, muy cerca del diseño industrial Las únicas conexiones estilísticas que se le pueden encontrar son las del Prerrafaelismo del último Romanticismo inglés, y el Movimiento llamado Artes y Oficios. A su extraordinaria difusión contribuyó lo agradable y fácil de su lectura, ayudada por el inicio de la revista ilustrada y las exposiciones internacionales, dos hechos que aparecen en la década de 1890.