November 4th and July 4th

Leyendecker and Museum Mile

Long term readers know that I love J. C. Leyendecker. I was very sorry to miss the opening of "Americans Abroad: J.C Leyendecker and the European Influence on American Illustration" at the Society of Illustrators while I was out of town. I had a few minutes to spare last night so I ran up to give myself a quick preview. Holy cow, is this show phenomenal. Leyendecker's grace is unparalleled. His brushwork is so confident and never labored, every painting just sings with life. Above are a few quick details. I'll show more when I am able to get a better look at the exhibit.

The show runs through July 12. This is a rare opportunity to view these one hundred paintings, many of which are owned in private collections. If you're in the area, it's well worth the effort to come check it out. There is a catalog of the exhibit with very nice reproductions available through the Society's website.

What I was actually on my way to was the Museum Mile Festival. Fifth Avenue becomes a big block party once a year and all the museums are open late and open free. I was a bit too frazzled from work to settle into museum-mode, especially with so many people stuffed into them, but it was a beautiful day to walk down the center of Fifth Avenue and be around the buzz of museum goers.

Leyendecker Lecture Online

There is a J.C. Leyendecker exhibit traveling around the Sates that is eagerly awaited by everybody I know. Tony Shasteen wrote to tell me that there is an online lecture/slideshow on Leyendecker at the The Haggin Museum website. As I write this, I am only 15 minutes into it now but suddenly the next hour at work looks a whole lot more pleasant.

Easter = Leyendecker

Happy jelly beans and chocolate bunnies.

Because I have had countless lunches, and way too many slices of pumpkin pie, sitting under this J.C. Leyendecker "Easter" painting at the Society, Easter and Leyendecker go hand in hand to me. (Of course, as the man that invented the New Year’s Baby the same could be said for that holiday. And he did help solidify the look of the modern day Santa. But anyway....) Has there ever been an illustrator with more elegance and grace, or with such an impeccable sense of design and control without loosing the life and playfulness of a painting? I doubt it.

Truly, Leyendecker's work must be seen in person. His signature linear brush strokes are so confidently placed that he never over-paints the surface, often leaving canvas and underpainting to show through as textures that are difficult to appreciate in reproduction. Lucky for me, there is only 660 days left before this Leyendecker show gets to my neck of the woods. Woo-hoo!

For great detail shoots from the exhibit, check out this Ey Foo series: Part one, two, and three.

Weekend

It’s been a relaxing and illustrative weekend...

Saturday:
After a nice breakfast with my mom, and some Christmas shopping, Greg and I went to the Illustration House auction. My favorite lots, the two Mead Schaeffers went for something around $35,000.00 each. It was sad to see them go. The Society bought a great early Bernie Fuchs from McCalls Magazine. We didn't have his earlier editorial work represented in the collection before. There was a Charles Knight comp (although it was the size of a large painting) for one of his murals at the Museum of Natural History, but it did not meet it’s reserve price. I was sorta glad, feeling that it really belongs at the museum...although, clearly, if they felt the same it would be there already. It reminded me that the Society doesn't own a Knight dinosaur painting -- a real shame, not to have the man who brought dinosaurs back to life represented. If anyone finds one in the attic.....

Sunday:
Mark Korsak, Greg, and I went up to the New Canaan Library for the opening of a Peter de Seve exhibit. Along the way we decided to detour into New Rochelle to see if we could find the library Rockwell's Land of Enchantment lives in. As luck would have it, we arrived just as the doors were opening. A beautiful painting. The librarians kindly looked the other way when we started climbing on furniture to get a closer look at it. Then we went to see J. C. Leyendecker’s house, or at least we think we were at his house. It’s a day care now. Then it was off to the Peter’s show. He does such great work...such a sharp wit, without ever getting cynical or meanspirited. The exhibit had a cross selection of his New Yorker covers, book covers, and theater posters. We ran into David Johnson and Barbara McClintcock, both wonderful artists, at the opening. And then it was off to dinner and off for home.

All and all....a very nice weekend.

Top: Mead Schaeffer. Detail of Saul Tepper. Bernie Fuchs. Charles Knight. The auction. Middle: Rockwell painting. Leyendecker house. Mark and Greg. Bottom: New Yorker cover. Peter and daughter. Crowd.