A review by makeminemonsters
J.C. Leyendecker: American Imagist by Laurence Cutler, Judy Goffman Cutler

informative medium-paced

4.0

This is a really great retrospective of a prolific American artist whose work deserves to be seen and discussed more widely. I do have a few quibbles - the authors did not discuss the use of racial stereotyping in Leyendecker's images nor the Saturday Evening Post's racist policies about what kind of depictions could be included in their magazines which felt like a huge oversight. Also, I found the disparaging and dismissive language the authors employed when speaking about Charles Beach, Leyendecker's partner of nearly 50 years, to be reductive and borderline insulting. Still for anyone who's curious about Leyendecker's art, this is a solid introduction to his art and his life, especially given the lack of readily available biographical resources about the painter.