Joseph Christian Leyendecker (1874-1951)

"With the public anxiously awaiting each holiday number of the Post, the editors selfishly but cleverly recognized that they could increase circulation even further if there were more of them to celebrate. They pushed the government via editorials to declare even more holidays, but with employers rebelling, both politicians and the public realized that there had to be a limit. Obviously, while the Post tried, it could not invent holidays, so when J.C. Leyendecker suggested painting the four seasons, the editors seized onto the idea. And so Leyendecker provided the magazine with another four record-breaking issues during the course of every year." (L.S. Cutler, J.G. Cutler, J.C. Leyendecker: American Imagist, New York, 2008, p. 207)

The present work was published as the cover illustration of the March 30th, 1929 issue of The Saturday Evening Post. Please note the present lot includes a copy of this cover.