GLR September-October 2023

instance, the 1914 Mother ’ sDay cover is what launched the tradition of giving flowers to Mom. Whenever one of his covers ap peared — there were 322 all told — the Post ’ s circulation would receive a bounce, until it became the most popu lar magazine in the world, with over two million readers and annual ad rev enue of $28 million. Leyendecker was soon earning $50,000 a year — nearlya million dollars in today ’ s currency. It ’ s fascinating that it took a gay immigrant without a high school education, some one who knew how hard it was to be accepted, to create the images that American men aspired to emulate. Many of these covers used Beach as the model, and, even though the magazine was conservative and family-oriented, many featured what look to us like sex

equivalent of nearly half a million dol lars today, to Beach, who was described in Leyendecker ’ s obituaries as friend, model, secretary, or aide, but never as his life partner. Beach stated in his final interview: “ I stuck with the Boss for 49 years. He is gone and now I am a ship without a rudder. ” Leyendecker had asked Beach to destroy all of his work. Beach ulti mately reconsidered, hosting a yard sale at their home in which sketches and finished work sold for a pittance. They are now worth thousands of dol lars. After Beach died, Leyendecker ’ s reputation began to fade. His timeless illustrations, however, are being redis covered and his reputation rehabili tated. When Ralph Lauren opened a flagship store in New York, they used Leyendecker-style advertising.

The Arrow Collar Man in 1910

ualized queer images. Two striking examples are his 1932 image of the U.S. Olympic Eight and his iconic Lifeguard , the sex sym bol of this era, who ’ s wearing a skintight bathing suit while ig noring the female bathers who are trying to get his attention. When talking about Leyendecker and The Saturday Evening Post , we can ’ t avoid discussing his complicated relationship with Norman Rockwell, America ’ s even more famous illustra tor. Rockwell went from being Leyendecker ’ s admirer to being his friend and protégé and eventually his rival, ultimately re placing Leyendecker at the Post . Rockwell devoted a chapter of his autobiography to Leyendecker. As the latter was very pri vate, this chapter has become a key source of information about him. But the chapter is very biased and of questionable relia bility. For example, Rockwell states that “ Leyendecker could never paint a woman with any sympathy, ” an assertion that doesn ’ t hold up to scrutiny and seems to be a veiled attack on Leyendecker ’ s sexuality. When he accuses Beach of being a parasite who cut Leyendecker off from everyone else, he was probably resentful of Beach ’ s closeness to Leyendecker and his own estrangement from his onetime mentor. Rockwell ’ s style was so similar to Leyendecker ’ s that Post readers had a hard time telling them apart. Their approach, how ever, was quite different. Rockwell ’ s illustrations tended to tell a story, while Leyendecker was more interested in style and composition than in establishing a clear narrative. This is why we ’ re still wondering about the true meaning of his art a century later. The contrast can be found, for example in the two artists ’ representations of the Thanksgiving holiday. Rockwell ’ s famous Freedom from Want shows a celebration of a traditional family holiday. In Leyendecker ’ s cover, two square-jawed, all-Ameri can icons, a Puritan and a football player, are standing side-by side and seem to occupy separate worlds, even as they appear to be checking each other out. Leyendecker painted his last cover for the Post in 1943. When the commissions stopped pouring in, he and Beach had to let the house staff go, and they became semi-reclusive. On July 25, 1951, Leyendecker died of a heart attack in Beach ’ s arms. He left half of his estate to his sister and the other half, the

We ’ ll never know to what extent Leyendecker deliberately encoded his images with homoerotic desire. What ’ s undeniable is that his pioneering ads planted the seeds for today ’ s gay-spe cific and lifestyle ads from brands such as Calvin Klein and Abercrombie & Fitch. Ultimately, his work proves that the ho moerotic imagination has been a key part of American con sumer culture since its origins well over a century ago.

September – October 2023

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