Frank Xavier Leyendecker (January 19, 1876 – April 18, 1924), also known as Frank James Leyendecker, was a German-American commercial artist and

illustrator An illustrator is an artist who specializes in enhancing writing or elucidating concepts by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text or idea. The illustration may be intended to clarify complicat ...

. He worked with his brother

Joseph Christian Leyendecker Joseph Christian Leyendecker (March 23, 1874 – July 25, 1951) was a German-American illustrator, considered one of the preeminent American illustrators of the early 20th century. He is best known for his poster, book and advertising illustrati ...

, in their studio, first in Chicago, then later in New York City and New Rochelle,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

Biography

Franz Xavier Leyendecker was born in Montabour, Germany on January 19, 1876. In 1884 he immigrated with his parents and three siblings to Chicago where an uncle owned the McAvoy Brewery. From 1895-1897 he studied at the

Académie Julian The Académie Julian () was a private art school for painting and sculpture founded in Paris, France, in 1867 by French painter and teacher Rodolphe Julian (1839–1907) that was active from 1868 through 1968. It remained famous for the number a ...

in Paris, France. He was known for his

stained glass Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...

work as well as his illustrations for posters, books, magazines and advertisements. He provided artwork for ads for Kum-a-Part jewelry, E. Howard Watch Company, Franklin automobiles,

Kuppenheimer B. Kuppenheimer & Co., or simply Kuppenheimer, was a men's clothing manufacturing and retail operation based in Chicago, Illinois and later Atlanta, Georgia. History Kohn, Clayburgh & Einstein In 1852, Bernard Kuppenheimer, who immigrated to Ame ...

clothes,

Right Posture Rights are legal, social, or ethical principles of freedom or entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people according to some legal system, social convention, or ethical theory ...

clothes, Ohio Electric automobiles,

Remington Arms Remington Arms Company, LLC was an American manufacturer of firearms and ammunition, now broken into two companies, each bearing the Remington name. The firearms manufacturer is ''Remington Arms''. The ammunition business is called ''Remingto ...

/Union Metallic Carbide,

Durham hosiery Durham Hosiery Mill is a historic textile mill complex located at Durham, Durham County, North Carolina. It includes seven contributing brick buildings in the complex. The original Durham Hosiery Mill was built in 1902, and consists of a four-st ...

, and

BVD BVD is a brand of men's underwear, which are commonly referred to as "BVDs". The brand was founded in 1876 and named after the three founders of the New York City firm: (Joseph W.) Bradley, (Luther C.) Voorhees, and (Lyman H.) Day (thus "B.V.D." ...

underwear. He painted covers for a large number of mass-readership magazines including Street & Smith pulp magazines, such as People's Favorite Magazine and The Popular Magazine, as well as for Fawcett's pulp magazine Battle Stories. His painting for Battle Stories was originally created as a WWI recruitment poster that Fawcett Publications posthumously reprinted as a pulp magazine cover in 1931. His work was described as an "important feature" of the second exhibition of the Society of Illustrators at the International gallery in New York. Leyendecker served as the judge in the first Strathmore Water Color Contest, sponsored by the Mittineague Paper Company of Massachusetts. Frank Leyendecker and his sister Augusta Mary Leyendecker and the model Charles A. Beach lived for a time in a large house built and co-owned by the two brothers in New Rochelle,

. Leyendecker was suffering from depression and poor health due to his ongoing drug addiction, when he died, most likely by suicide, of a morphine overdose on April 18, 1924, at the age of 48.Frank Leyendecke profile
Pulpartists.com

References

External links

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Leyendecker, Frank X. 1877 births 1924 suicides American illustrators German emigrants to the United States Drug-related suicides in New York (state) Artists from New Rochelle, New York Culture of New Rochelle, New York Artists who committed suicide 1924 deaths