Norman Rockwell is often heralded as the greatest magazine cover artist of the turn of the century. He undeniably captured americana and the emotions associated with small town life, but less spoken to is how influenced he was by his teacher: J.C. Leyendecker.

Even less commonly discussed is how J.C. Leyendecker made his lover the definition of American masculinity.

Joseph Christian Leyendecker was born on March 23, 1874 in Montabaur, Germany, but he soon immigrated to the United States with his family. From an early age, Leyendecker and his younger brother displayed a truly amazing aptitude for art. The two went on to study art at the Chicago Art Institute and later Leyendecker studied in Paris. Both of these periods honed his artistic vision and unique style that would later earn him so much acclaim.

Upon his return to America, the young artist began to illustrate for a company called Manz and Co. During his 60 ad run with the company, he would win a cover competition for Century Magazine, shooting him into the national spotlight. Quickly Leyendecker’s work for magazines like the Post and the Arrow Collar company became iconic household images.

His artwork portrayed American excellence and opulence at its pique. Lavishly dressed men, women, and children drawn to display their beauty and their class compelled millions of American’s to purchase everything from soap to socks. For example, his most well known figure, the “Arrow Collar Man,” would the increase the clothing company’s sales to $32 million the dear the first ad campaign ran. Essentially, he would go on to inspire an entire generation’s aspirations and ideals, including those of F. Scott Fitzgerald as he was creating the Great Gatsby.

As the nation was off buying luxury collars and Post magazines, no one questioned why all of Leyendecker’s men had the same jawline or how most of them were muscular blondes. What was generally just considered “his style” was actually the fact that Leyendecker used just one man as his model for most of his career.

Charles Beach met Leyendecker at the age of 17 and the two men started a whirlwind romance that would last until Leyendecker died of a heart attack nearly 50 years later. They kept the affair mostly private, having only those closest to them in the know.

The true nature of their relationship would not be revealed to the general public for nearly 50 years till a collector of his work began investigating into the artist’s personal life.  

In a time where homosexuality was not only disapproved of but illegal, Leyendeckers bold portrayal of his lover as the pinnacle of the American man is a strong reminder of the power of love. It empowers us to create. It emboldens us to proclaim what we otherwise would’ve hid. It is the central crux of art.

J.C. Leyendecker’s work shows all of us not only the power of art and love, but what can be done when an individual arms them self with both.

 

SOURCES

Biography: Joseph Christian “J.C.” Leyendecker

www.collectorsweekly.com/articles/the-perfect-american-male

https://www.illustrationhistory.org/artists/jc-leyendecker

http://articles.latimes.com/2008/dec/28/entertainment/ca-jc-leyendecker28

Melting watches, deformed bodies, and muted colors on surrealistic scenes all evoke one man: Salvador Dalí.

This man was born in Figueres, Spain on May 11, 1904 under the name Salvador Felipe Jacinto Dalí y Domenech. This young child welcomed into the world didn’t appear to be anything particularly special. He had a very typical childhood, despite high tensions with his father from a young age. No one suspected that he would go on to be one of the most famous surrealist painters in the world.

Frankly, if it weren’t for one woman the world may have never known his genius. Without Gala, the woman that would later become his wife, Salvador Dalí wouldn’t be half the artist we all know him to be

Salvador and Gala, born Helena Ivanovna Diakonova, met in 1929. At the time, Dalí knew that it was love at first sight. He would go on to write in his personal memoir of that night and say that Gala was, “destined to be my Gradiva, the one who moves forward, my victory, my wife.”

The pair of course hit it off and quickly began an affair. Gala at the time was still married to a poet named Paul Eluard and continued having other affairs throughout her and Dalí’s relationship. This didn’t matter to Salvador Dalí however. In addition to practicing candaulism, Dalí more enjoyed Gala for her beauty and her company that any physical relationship she could offer him. According to the two, they never even had a physical relationship in any form.

Gala would ultimately be the inspiration for many of Dalí’s most famous works. Pieces like “The Madonna of Port Lligat” and “Galarina” portray Gala in Dalí’s envisioning of her. The woman’s presence in his life would ultimately throw him into a whole new era of his work that ultimately placed him in the position the world now sees him in.

These two individuals had a tumultuous affair for over 53 years. Toward the ends of their lives, they had a falling out of sorts and Dalí bought Gala a castle in Púbol, Spain. There she resided and only received visits from Dalí if he asked her for prior permission. In a particularly traumatic event, after finding out about how much she was spending on other lovers, Dalí beat Gala until he broke two of her ribs.

After this incident, they lived separate lives until Gala died on June 10, 1982. According to her wishes, she was buried on the grounds of the castle that her love bought for her. Dalí died seven years later but he never quite recovered from the loss of Gala. Unfortunately he spent his last years emotionally unstable and constantly calling for the woman who was his everything.

The casual observer of this relationship would likely be stunned by its many unconventional elements but I think there is much to learn from these two lovers. Perhaps, if we stopped forcing love to fit into our preconceived societal boxes, then maybe so many more people would find a love, as wild and unbridled as it was, like Dalí and Gala’s.

 

SOURCES

Dali And Gala – The Love Story

https://www.biography.com/people/salvador-dal-40389

https://www.salvador-dali.org/en/dali/bio-gala/

Any fans of shows like Black Mirror, Electric Dreams, or the OA would likely identify with the work done by Stuart Semple.

This artist had humble beginnings, being born in Bournemouth, United Kingdom on September 12, 1980. As with many other artists, he didn’t start his life planning to be an artist.

While studying at Breton Hall, Stuart Semple had a near death experience at the age of 19. The incident left Stuart clamoring for any sense of beauty left in the world. When he found none to hold onto, he decided he needed to start creating his own. Thusly his art career was born.

Stuart Semple is known for subverting expectations of art and expressing modern, “millennial,” struggles within his work. He often portrays feelings of anxiety and worthlessness with graphic installations featuring color pallets more likely to be seen on a late-night Nickelodeon special than in other, more minimalist, modern works. He creates an intimate conversation with the viewer into not only his own mind, but the social psyche of today’s 20-something.

Interestingly enough though, possibly his most well-known piece is not even considered art by many. Dubbed “HappyCloud,” in 2009, Semple stood outside of Tate Modern and sent smiley faces made of soap and helium off floating into the clouds towards the city of London. When asked about the project, Semple didn’t offer any specific explanation, begging the viewer instead to ask, “Why not?”

Stuart Semple is not world famous. Stuart Semple is not rich. Stuart Semple is more than likely a name you’ve never heard.

But… Stuart Semple is possibly just the revolutionary the modern art world needs.

Recently, Stuart Semple has been dedicating less and less time to his art and more to his active fight against Anish Kapoor (click here to read last week’s post regarding Anish Kapoor for the backstory of this battle.)

To show just how ridiculous it is to block individuals from art supplies, Stuart Semple first created “the world’s pinkest pink.” He sold it for just 4 euros, barely above the price of creation, and made just one stipulation: Anish Kapoor could not buy this pigment, and no one could buy it for him either.

The pigment caught on like wildfire since the art community at large was already so in uproar over Anish Kapoor commercializing his pigment in the first place. However, within 6 months of its creation, Anish Kapoor posted a picture to his Instagram with just his middle finger dipped in Semple’s pigment.

Anyone else would’ve been angry. Anyone else would’ve reacted with hate.

Stuart Semple merely decided to create more. He has since gone on to create more and more pigments in order to open up and innovate the art community in direct opposition to all that Anish Kapoor stands for.

His story is remarkable and one that anyone can learn from. We are all tested at different times in our life and must decide whether we shall act with hate or with love. Maybe we can all learn to be like Stuart Semple and be “happy clouds.”

 

SOURCES

https://news.artnet.com/art-world/anish-kapoor-stuart-semple-color-wars

http://stuartsemple.com/about/biography-2/

https://www.dezeen.com/2016/12/30/anish-kapoor-uses-stuart-semple-worlds-pinkest-pink

Anish Kapoor is one of the biggest names in the modern art world that you’ve probably never heard of.

His works include such famous pieces as “the Bean” in Chicago and “Dirty Corner” in Versailles. His pieces has sold for over a million dollars on auction at different points in his career and he is often the first name city planners call upon when designing public sculptures. Currently, his net worth is valued at $85 million which places him as one of the richest artists currently alive.

The biggest discussion surrounding Anish Kapoor however isn’t his millions in earnings or his ginormous and beautiful sculptures, but rather his ownership of a very special pigment called Vantablack.

Vantablack was created in 2014 by a tech company called Surrey Nanosystems. Its original purpose was to increase satellite technology through mitigating the effects of the sun on their hardware. The pigment absorbs so much light that once applied to a surface, it appears to turn into a black hole and thusly, Vantablack has been dubbed “the world’s blackest black.” Once it left the lab, Surrey Nanosystems realized the paint’s power as an art medium and started to bargain rights to the pigment.

Enter Anish Kapoor with his very large pocket book. Not only did Anish Kapoor purchase the rights to Vantablack, but additionally, he purchased exclusive creative rights to the pigment. Essentially this meant that no one else would be able to use the pigment in art in any form. He then proceeded to create piece after piece using this new pigment, just to sell them for more millions to line his pocket book.

Naturally the art community was in uproar. Outrage from the many, many different artists would compel most men to give up, but Anish Kapoor is no ordinary man.

Instead of bending to the will of the people and giving up Vantablack, he released several petty tweets and posts on social media. All of these posts essentially called out those who opposed him and promised his perpetual refusal to share Vantablack.

The whole debacle is ongoing and not likely to reach a conclusion anytime soon especially given the high emotional and financial tensions involved. From this however, a very heated debate has arisen within the art community. People around the world are asking, “is Anish Kapoor an a**hole or simply an artist protecting his brand?”

The jury is still out on this question for the general public, but to me it is indisputable that Anish Kapoor’s actions are unacceptable, no matter the reasoning. Whether or not he’s doing it for the betterment of his art, commoditizing a pigment that could’ve revolutionized the art world if opened to the public is unacceptable. Anish Kapoor is not alone in this type of action, but he is the worst offender to date. If the art community could figure out a way to correct his injustices and insure a fairer system in the future, perhaps no one like “Mr.Bean” will ever come around again.

 

SOURCES

http://www.nwitimes.com/entertainment/just-don-t-call-anish-kapoor-mr-bean/article_5a03429a-b5bb-596d-b30a-e6a22f42ed31.html

https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2015/sep/10/anish-kapoor-sued-racist-graffiti-versailles-sculpture-queens-vagina

https://news.artnet.com/art-world/vantablack-vs-black-superblack

https://www.surreynanosystems.com/vantablack