Joseph Christian Leyendecker was one of the preeminent American illustrators of the early 20th century. He is best known for his poster, book and advertising illustrations, the trade character known as The Arrow Collar Man, and his numerous covers for The Saturday Evening Post. Between 1896 and 1950, Leyendecker painted more than 400 magazine covers. During the Golden Age of American Illustration, for The Saturday Evening Post alone, J. C. Leyendecker produced 322 covers, as well as many advertisement illustrations for its interior pages. No other artist, until the arrival of Norman Rockwell two decades later, was so solidly identified with one publication. Leyendecker virtually invented the whole idea of modern magazine design.
Joseph Christian Leyendecker was born on March 23, 1874, at Montabour in Southwest Germany, a tiny villiage on the Rhine, to Peter Leyendecker and Elizabeth Oreseifen Leyendecker . Joseph was the firstborn son, his brother Francis Xavier was born three years later. A sister, Augusta, the third and last child, arrived after the family emigrated to America.
Source: Wikipedia