Joseph Christian Leyendecker (American, 1874-1951) Hailing You for the U.S. Navy, 1918 Oil on canvas 33-1/8 x 26 inches (84.1 x 66.0 cm) (image) 40 x 28 inches (101.6 x 71.1 cm) (canvas) Signed with artist's monogram lower right: JCLeyendecker Property from an Important Palm Beach Collector PROVENANCE: Sotheby's, New York, December 2, 1982, lot 128; Stanley J. Seeger, acquired from the above; Estate of the above; Sotheby's, New York, April 16, 2014, lot 141; Acquired by the present owner from the above. LITERATURE: M. Schau, J.C. Leyendecker, New York, 1974, p. 77, illustrated (as US Navy recruitment poster); L.S. Cutler, J.G. Cutler, J.C. Leyendecker: American Imagist, New York, 2008, p. 226, illustrated (as Navy Recruitment advertisement). Although Joseph Christian Leyendecker is best remembered for his fashionable advertisements and charming New Year's Baby covers, his World War I posters reveal another side of his contribution to American visual culture. Though his career in poster design was relatively short, it was highly impactful, and Hailing You for the U.S. Navy stands among its finest examples. Previously used primarily for commercial advertising, posters became arguably the U.S. government's most powerful tool of mass communication during World War I. Bold, captivating illustrations helped the government garner support for the war, encourage enlistment, and promote the purchase of war bonds. Despite its late entry into the war, the United States produced more propaganda posters than any other participating nation, with an estimated 2,000 to 3,000 distinct designs. Leyendecker joined illustrators including Howard Chandler Christy, Charles Dana Gibson, and James Montgomery Flagg—whose 1917 poster I Want You for the U.S. Army (Figure 1) remains among the most recognizable American images ever created—in creating images intended to influence public opinion. Together, these campaigns demonstrated the persuasive power of illustration on a national scale and helped shape both modern American wartime propaganda and the advertising industry that followed. As one of the most ubiquitous art forms of the time, posters had long been regarded as inexpensive, gimmicky advertising. In Paris, Jules Chéret helped elevate poster design to a respected art form. His work was the subject of the first solo exhibition devoted to posters at the Galeries du Théâtre d'Application, and his designs covered the city just as the Leyendecker brothers arrived to study at the Académie Julian, likely leaving a lasting impression on the young draughtsman. Leyendecker was commissioned to promote not only the Navy, but also the Army, Marines (Figure 2), and the sale of Liberty Bonds. Hailing You for the U.S. Navy was created to appeal to curious and adventurous young Americans, at times appearing alongside the text: "FOUR SURE THINGS IN THE NAVY—PAY, HEALTH, TRAINING, TRAVEL" (Figure 3). In typical Leyendecker style, the central figure is a handsome young man, smartly dressed in a crisp white sailor's uniform. Standing proudly on his ship's deck, he raises a hand in greeting as a colossal American flag billows behind him. Below, a fellow sailor carries a monkey on his shoulder and a bright green caged parrot amid tropical fruit provisions, suggesting the adventures that await at sea. The sea, sky, and nearby land verge on abstraction, dissolving into sweeping passages of blue and green. Short, bold strokes animate both the background and the sailor's white uniform, a variation on the white cross-hatching motif Leyendecker would become known for in his Saturday Evening Post covers. The recruitment efforts of Leyendecker and his fellow illustrators worked astonishingly well. According to the 1918 Annual Report of the Secretary of the Navy, "when war was declared the enlistment and enrollment of the Navy numbered 65,777 men. On the day Germany signed the armistice, it had increased to 497,030 men and women." Like his covers for The Saturday Evening Post, Leyendecker's poster designs capture the tone of their era, using bold design to make their message clear, immediate, and compelling. In Hailing You for the U.S. Navy, the promise of adventure makes enlistment seem as enticing as it is patriotic. HID12401132022 © 2026 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved www.HA.com/TexasAuctioneerLicenseNotice

Sotheby's, New York, December 2, 1982, lot 128; Stanley J. Seeger, acquired from the above; Estate of the above; Sotheby’s, New York, April 16, 2014, lot 141; Acquired by the present owner from the above.

Unlined, retains original stretcher. Small, vertical surface scratch at far right edge, next to the monkey. Frame abrasion and a few corresponding pindot losses along the extreme outer edges. Specks of surface accretion. A few isolated spots of surface cracking. Under UV: A few possible pindots of inpaint in the green background at far left.
Framed Dimensions 48 X 36 Inches