# @fineartsbuilding on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DZIZ9BoDRVv
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/66434107-fineartsbuilding-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/986779db60.jpg
- **Posted:** 2026-06-03T17:00:15.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** The Fine Arts Building (@fineartsbuilding) — https://gondola.cc/fineartsbuilding

## Caption

Happy #Pride Month! 🌈

To celebrate, we’re highlighting J.C. Leyendecker, a queer artist who worked out of FAB and who had a huge impact on 20th-century commercial art with his illustrations for Arrow Shirts, The Saturday Evening Post, and countless other brands and magazines. 

In 1905, he created the “Arrow Collar Man” for Arrow Shirts, modeling the illustration after his romantic partner Charles Beach. Beach regularly modeled for Leyendecker and eventually became his business manager too. The two remained together until the artist’s death in 1951.

Leyendecker used Beach as a model for many of his pieces, but this particular depiction became a sex symbol. Arrow Shirts received fan letters for the brand character, and the design served as an example of American masculinity in the early 20th century.

The popularity and ubiquity of Leyendecker's work directly inspired the aesthetic of the time and, whether done intentionally or subconsciously, helped gay men envision a place for themselves within American mainstream culture. 

J.C. and his brother Frank rented a studio on the 10th floor of the Fine Arts Building shortly after it opened in 1898 until they moved to New York City in 1901. In that time, they coordinated the 10th-floor mural project, which you can still see today!

Also in that time, he drew his first magazine cover for The Saturday Evening Post for their May 1899 issue. That kicked off his 44-year-long relationship with the magazine, during which, Leyendecker designed 322 covers (one more than his mentee Norman Rockwell) and established the idea that a magazine cover can be an artform itself. 

#chicagohistory #chicagopride #fineartsbuilding #leyendecker #queerhistory

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- **Likes:** 167
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## Credits

| Name | Username | Profile | Role |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| The Fine Arts Building | @fineartsbuilding | https://gondola.cc/fineartsbuilding | Creative Director |

## Tags

queerhistory, pride, fineartsbuilding, chicagopride, chicagohistory, leyendecker

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