Pilgrim and Football Player, cover illustration for The Saturday Evening Post, November 24, 1928, J. C. Leyendecker
This is on the website of the Norman Rockwell Museum’s Rockwell Center for American Visual Studies. The page has fascinating information both about the origins of the association of American Football with the holiday of Thanksgiving, and about Leyendecker’s use of Augustus Saint-Gaudens’ sculpture of a pilgrim as his model for the pilgrim figure.
In my many Lines and Colors posts about the brilliant American illustrator, J.C. Leyendecker, I’ve often pointed out my admiration for his ability to combine solid academic draftsmanship with a confident looseness in his rendering. Plus, I never tire of the way he spots his highlights.
