100 Years of Illustration

More J.C. Leyendecker: Queen Meave (aka Maeve) and Cuchulain (pronounced Cuhoolin).

The Ancient Irish Sagas was the lead article in Theodore DeVinne's famous The Century Magazine, for January 1907 which featured two full-color illustrations by the famous J.C. Leyendecker for the even more famous author, former president Theodore Roosevelt. I couldn't believe it (and didn't know I had the material) until I found it just today!

This is Queen Meave. Roosevelt describes her as: ". . . . the famous warrior-queen, Meave, tall and beautiful, with her white face and yellow hair, terrible in her battle chariot when she drove at full speed into the press of fighting men, and 'fought over the ears of the horses.' Her virtues were those of a warlike barbarian king, and she claimed the like large liberty in morals. Her husband was Ailill, the Connaught king, and, as Meave carefully explained to him in what the old Erse bards called a 'bolster conversation,' their marriage was literally a partnership wherein she demanded from her husband an exact equality of treatment according to her own views and on her own terms; she insisted being that he should be brave, generous, and completely devoid of jealousy!"

Click on image to enlarge the complete illustration as it appeared.

Detail of the above. Click on image to enlarge it.

Cuchulain (pronounced Cuhoolin or Cu-hullin) in Battle. Click on image to enlarge it.
More about this amazing folk hero can be found at this link.

J.C. Leyendecker, Couple Dancing

You might recall this illustration from among the American Illustrators commemorative stamps issued by the U.S. Postal Service in 2000. Just this morning I received a brochure from Swann Auction Galleries in which it appeared with the notice that the original oil painting on canvas is scheduled to be sold at auction on 7 June. It is expected to sell for US$40,000 to $60,000. That's about one per cent of what a not-very-good Jackson Pollock painting would bring. I'm not saying that any Pollocks are much good, but that's a personal opinion. It's also the reason why I created a blog dedicated to this subject. Click on the image below to enlarge it. For books about Leyendecker see Amazon link, above right.

Arrow Collars and Shirts advertisement, 1923

More about Joseph Christian Leyendecker.