J.C. Leyendecker

The book is a surprise, probably believing could be one of those watershed biographies, this book reach all the aspects of his life, his siblings and his lover; and giving light about the artistic life surrounding JCL. No mention the Illustration are the thing you are drawn for having this book. Could be more pictures, but this is not a Summa pictorica of his work (It would be a enormous tome) ; But when publishing a book, you have to make decisions. At the moment is the best book about this American Illustrator.

The feeling you get from the sum of the reviews is "Buy this book for the pictures and forget the text".
Only trouble, though, is that the pictures are not well scanned, not well digitally restaured and not well set up for print, and not at all well printed.
"Not well" is in some cases not a strong enough negative.
This is such a let-down! And we waited 30 years for such a book. The Cutlers probably changed their names and went in exile, red-faced and feeling guilty as hell!
I'd buy this book all over again anytime, though, because of the art of Leyendecker. But only until someone comes up with better reproductions.

This book is definitely worth it if only for the quality of the illustrations. Some people in these reviews point out some inaccuracies in the text regarding either the authenticity of some paintings, some details about Leyendecker's life and that of his contemporaries and some interpretations regarding his real influence on the American psyche. A lot of people seem to take issue with the central role the authors give to Leyendecker's life-long relationship with Charles Beach and with his sexual orientation in general as if it permeated everything he did.

If anything, I wish the text had had a little bit more information on the actual techniques and methods of creation. Some hints are given but it would have been nice to find out about the actual studio and his materials. Also, it would have been of great help to determine where the paintings are located today. May be even more interesting than describing the fate of Mount Tom's. Leyendecker's residence.

Despite this voids, the artwork of J.C. Leyendecker is so splendid that a book like this, that has achieved the best reproductions to date in this sort of tome, must be at the top of my list. And some of the author's interpretations are their own to have, I certainly agree that homoeroticism permeates a big part of the artwork and that Leyendecker helped settled many of the archetypes we see as American today. I do not take issue with that and I think the authors have a right to a certain point of view even when they do not have the right to add extraneous details, specially with no documentation.

Like many other reviewers, I have been waiting for a book like this for years. And, like them, I am both thrilled and disappointed. While this is one of the most comprehensive collections of Leyendecker illustrations ever to see print, and worth the price of the book alone, the text is severely wanting. The book is full of errors, both minor and major, and has an antagonistic tone to boot.

An example of the former is the claim that the actor Neil Hamilton, "appeared AS `Tarzan the Ape Man' (1934)." This, of course, should read that he appeared IN "Tarzan the Ape Man" (1932). ("Tarzan and His Mate," in which Hamilton also appeared, again not as Tarzan, was released in `34).

Examples of the later would be any mention of other illustrators, about whom they usually have some snarky comment to make. A particular amount of vitriol is spewed on to Norman Rockwell, whom they portray as the most contemptible of human beings.

This is frankly a disturbing trend in a lot of books. (witness the James Bama book "American Realist" and "Excess- the art of Michael Golden" for other examples) It seems that it is no longer enough to present an artist works and plead his case, but one must also denigrate and dismiss that artist contemporaries and rivals. If one wishes to bash artist such as Cole Phillips and Rockwell, and Leyendecker's brother and sister too boot, there are plenty of other places to do so. Is it really necessary to do such in a Leyendecker biography?

Also be aware that the authors lay much of the 20th centuries iconography at Leyendecker's feet. They exaggeratingly claim that J.C. is responsible for everything from giving flowers to mom on mother day, playing football on Thanksgiving, inspiring the novel "the Great Gatsby," and much more. It's one thing to laud your heroes accomplishments, quite another to exaggerate them.

By all means, buy the book. But do so for the pretty pictures, not the text.

This book is a comprehensive collection of Mr. Leyendeckers work, anyone who is interested in illustration should have access to this book. The color prints are absolutely gorgeous and there is plenty to oogle over. Anyhow great book and it was well worth the cost.