Saluting Santa, by J. C. Leyendecker. Saturday Evening Post Cover, December 7, 1918 1918

J.C. Leyendecker painted this Saturday Evening Post cover, Saluting Santa, in 1918, probably in oil. The approach is so smooth, so assured, that it's easy to overlook the actual doing of it. The Santa figure is rendered in these really slick strokes of red, forming the folds of his coat. Leyendecker lays down this very definite, almost graphic line, like he's carving the image out of the white space. The paint isn't particularly thick, but the way he's manipulated it gives such a robust sense of form. Look at the way the light bounces off Santa's red coat – this glossy, almost wet effect achieved with such precise brushwork. The edges of the drawing are so crisp. It reminds me a bit of some of Rockwell’s later, more sentimental work. But, where Rockwell often goes for a folksy feel, Leyendecker's got this undeniable elegance, this almost theatrical flair. It's a conversation, right? Artists talking to each other across time, each one adding their own little twist. And that's the beauty of art, it is in the questions, not the answers.