Most scholars believe that Leyendecker was gay. He lived for most of his adult life with a man named, I think, Charles Beach. Beach was the model for the Arrow Collar Man (though I always thought he looked like actor Neil Hamilton, later Commisioner Gordon on TVs Batman).
Certainly Leyendecker had a special sense of male beauty; but I guess we'll never know for sure.
A Greek philosopher said that human beauty can be observed in two ways, one just as the general beauty defined for all things and the other sensual related. Great artist of old could certainly reach the first one when men were involved and from time to time they were able to take the second one two. Many of today’s artist, fearing the second one –the sensual, stigmatized as homosexual- can’t even reach the first one. Leyendecker, being gay, could certainly reach both of them, what got him a lot of money at a time from commercial ads. And obviously gay artist aren’t afraid of confronting female beauty neither. But today’s importance of beauty is diluted in a million ways and tastes –many of them in direct confrontation to the classical concept of human beauty- making many artists too lazy to even try to get what is appealing as long as the concept –or the whim- is strong enough, a good way to hide technical inability.
GREAT ART!
ReplyDeleteMost scholars believe that Leyendecker was gay. He lived for most of his adult life with a man named, I think, Charles Beach. Beach was the model for the Arrow Collar Man (though I always thought he looked like actor Neil Hamilton, later Commisioner Gordon on TVs Batman).
Certainly Leyendecker had a special sense of male beauty; but I guess we'll never know for sure.
Most of the 'evidence' that I've seen point to his being gay, but what the hey.
ReplyDeleteA Greek philosopher said that human beauty can be observed in two ways, one just as the general beauty defined for all things and the other sensual related. Great artist of old could certainly reach the first one when men were involved and from time to time they were able to take the second one two. Many of today’s artist, fearing the second one –the sensual, stigmatized as homosexual- can’t even reach the first one. Leyendecker, being gay, could certainly reach both of them, what got him a lot of money at a time from commercial ads. And obviously gay artist aren’t afraid of confronting female beauty neither. But today’s importance of beauty is diluted in a million ways and tastes –many of them in direct confrontation to the classical concept of human beauty- making many artists too lazy to even try to get what is appealing as long as the concept –or the whim- is strong enough, a good way to hide technical inability.
ReplyDelete