J.C. Leyendecker’s Ideal Man
The Arrow Collar Man
J.C. Leyendecker has to be one of my favorite artists of the twentieth century. As the most famous illustrator of his day, his work was published for decades in premier magazines like The Saturday Evening Post and Collier’s.
Among Leyendecker’s most famous illustrations are those he created for Arrow Shirts advertisements featuring the “Arrow Collar Man.” An elegantly dapper guy who received thousands of fan letters and marriage proposals from swooning women, the Arrow Collar Man set standards for what was considered a masculine ideal at the time, becoming the male version of Charles Gibson’s famous “Gibson Girl.” Besides its devastatingly handsome leading man, the campaign was also notable as one of the first
to deliberately sell a “lifestyle” instead of just a product.
Little did many know that Leyendecker’s lifelong partner, Charles Beach, was the model for the Arrow Collar Man. Women melted when they saw Beach in these advertisements, and men wanted to be him. When Leyendecker created the Arrow Collar Man, he proposed to create a unique male [sex] symbol for Arrow products: “Not simply a man, but a manly man, a handsome man . . . an ideal American man.” (Ironically, Beach
was Canadian.)
“Charles Beach was tall, powerfully built, and extraordinarily handsome — looked like an athlete from an Ivy League college. He had a clipped British accent and was always beautifully dressed, with polished and impeccable manners…He was Joseph Leyendecker’s ideal man.” — Norman Rockwell
The Arrow Collar Man, who graced the pages of nearly every American publication between 1907 and 1931, not only catapulted Arrow to the top of its industry, but created an idol with a masculine beauty powerful enough to stir the imagination — and desires — of a generation. The American male stepped onto the fashion scene thanks to J. C. Leyendecker’s artistic vision and deep love for his partner.
Drawing stunningly beautiful men wasn’t what set Leyendecker apart from his advertising peers — it was that he painted those men in a shockingly erotic and body-based manner, at a time when there wasn’t much of an audience for chiseled, broad-chested, shirtless men in mainstream culture.
And while his work referenced the male movie stars of this period — Cary Grant, Clark Gable, Gary Cooper, Humphrey Bogart, Marlon Brando, and James Dean — the standard ideal of male beauty owed little to Leyendecker. His greatest influence was on future generations of gay erotic artists, who were inspired by Leyendecker’s impossibly square-jawed men, and the ways he paired their hairless physiques and broad shoulders with as little clothing as he could get away with.
Despite his distinct talent, Leyendecker’s work went out of fashion, money became tight, and he outlived most of his friends. His funeral in 1951 was attended by only five people, including his partner of fifty years, Beach. The four pallbearers were three of his former male models — and Norman
Rockwell. Beach had been ordered to destroy all records, correspondence, and original artworks, although he did sell many of the artist’s studies in a yard sale.
