Joseph Christian Leyendecker (American, 1874-1951) Yule (Musical Jester), The Saturday Evening Post cover, December 26, 1931 Oil on canvas 30 x 22-1/4 inches (76.2 x 56.5 cm) Signed with artist's monogram lower right: JCL PROPERTY FROM THE SORDONI COLLECTION PROVENANCE: J. Assenheim & Sons, New York; American Illustrators Gallery, New York; Acquired by the present owner from the above. EXHIBITED: Brandywine River Museum, Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, "Maxfield Parrish: Master of Make Believe," May 31-September 2, 1974; Norman Rockwell Museum of Art, Stockbridge, Massachusetts, "J.C. Leyendecker and The Saturday Evening Post," March 21-June 14, 2015; Museum of American Illustration at The Society of Illustrators, New York, "American Abroad: J.C. Leyendecker and the European Academic Influence on American Illustration," May 21-July 12, 2008; Norman Rockwell Museum of Art, Stockbridge, Massachusetts, "J.C. Leyendecker: A Retrospective," November 8, 1997-May 25, 1998; Sordoni Art Gallery, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, "Selections from the Sordoni Collection: American Illustration & Comic Art," April 7-May 20, 2018. LITERATURE: A. Carter, J. Zankel, and T. Brown, American Abroad: J.C. Leyendecker and the European Academic Influence on American Illustration, exhibition catalogue, New York, 2008, n.p., no. 87, illustrated; S.I. Grand, Selections from the Sordoni Collection: American Illustration & Comic Art, exhibition catalogue, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, 2018, p. 145, no. 40, illustrated. One off the most prolific and sought-after artists of the Golden Age of Illustration, J.C. Leyendecker captivated the public with his magazine covers with striking design and bold style. Yule [Musical Jester] encapsulates the artist's high-fashion, glamorous fantasy that Leyendecker strove to achieve over the course of his vastly successful career. Born in Montabaur, Germany, Leyendecker came to Chicago with his Catholic family at age eight. He apprenticed to a printer, J. Manz and Co., and then studied with John Vanderpoel at the Chicago Art Institute. In 1896, he won the Century magazine cover competition, which essentially launched him professionally. Two years later, he went to Paris to the Académie Julian with his brother, Francis Xavier, and they learned the "hachure" method of drawing whereby blended shading was not allowed. During this time in Europe, Alfonse Mucha and his fellow Art Nouveau artist were in vogue playing with natural forms to create movement against bold lines of composition, creating a sense of architecture. This specific painting approach was quickly followed by the Art Deco movement, where artists simplified designs with a more geometric flair. When Leyendecker returned to America, his body of work flourished under the amalgamation of these two schools of style, resulting in the artist's distinctive approach to illustration that became uniquely his own. Painted in 1931, Yule [Musical Jester] exemplifies Leyendecker's unique blending of Art Nouveau and Art Deco influences, often evident in his Saturday Evening Post covers. The work captures the artist's talent as an artist and designer, with the high drama and romance of Art Nouveau composition blended seamlessly with the luxurious lines of the iconic Art Deco image of the Jester. The present work is an exceptional example of Leyendecker's high-fashion and opulent design rendered in a rich and sumptuous palate. HID03101062020 © 2020 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved See More