1 00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:07,000 Downloaded from YTS.MX 2 00:00:08,000 --> 00:00:13,000 Official YIFY movies site: YTS.MX 3 00:00:14,622 --> 00:00:19,583 ♪ 4 00:00:23,152 --> 00:00:28,158 ♪ 5 00:00:31,640 --> 00:00:36,384 ♪ 6 00:00:40,170 --> 00:00:41,432 - People talk about queerness 7 00:00:41,475 --> 00:00:44,957 as if it's something new, right? 8 00:00:45,000 --> 00:00:48,700 But we've always been here. 9 00:00:48,743 --> 00:00:53,444 And because of society seeing our community as other, 10 00:00:56,404 --> 00:01:00,886 it's been a very complex search, I guess, 11 00:01:00,929 --> 00:01:04,281 looking for myself within media. 12 00:01:04,325 --> 00:01:07,501 You know, I've always seen bits and pieces of myself, 13 00:01:07,545 --> 00:01:12,159 but I don't think I've ever seen myself complete or whole. 14 00:01:12,201 --> 00:01:14,290 But then... 15 00:01:14,335 --> 00:01:17,772 Oh, my God! 16 00:01:17,816 --> 00:01:20,906 I can't, I can't, bb. 17 00:01:20,950 --> 00:01:23,647 Black trans power. 18 00:01:23,692 --> 00:01:26,129 Black trans power, bb. 19 00:01:28,783 --> 00:01:31,091 It's huge! 20 00:01:35,182 --> 00:01:37,313 Queer folks are often looked over 21 00:01:37,358 --> 00:01:39,098 and not even given a chance. 22 00:01:42,014 --> 00:01:45,582 So seeing these beautiful representations of queerness 23 00:01:45,627 --> 00:01:47,411 that portray what you're either feeling 24 00:01:47,454 --> 00:01:49,978 or what you want to experience 25 00:01:50,021 --> 00:01:53,765 give some kind of hope that you can just be yourself. 26 00:01:53,808 --> 00:01:56,899 [ Laughs ] 27 00:01:56,942 --> 00:02:00,293 But going back into our history, 28 00:02:00,337 --> 00:02:03,253 queerness was so criminalized, 29 00:02:03,296 --> 00:02:05,341 we had to keep a low profile 30 00:02:05,385 --> 00:02:10,129 and use coded language to express ourselves safely. 31 00:02:11,695 --> 00:02:14,830 And we've seen it within art and advertising, 32 00:02:14,872 --> 00:02:19,050 like in the imagery of this gay artist, JC Leyendecker, 33 00:02:19,094 --> 00:02:22,359 who was working in the early 1900s. 34 00:02:24,491 --> 00:02:27,189 He was able to thread in queerness 35 00:02:27,234 --> 00:02:30,150 in an era when it's not accepted. 36 00:02:33,240 --> 00:02:37,418 But he was kinda erased from history. 37 00:02:37,461 --> 00:02:42,162 ♪ 38 00:02:44,293 --> 00:02:49,560 ♪ 39 00:02:51,692 --> 00:02:56,653 ♪ 40 00:02:58,787 --> 00:03:01,442 [ Page turning, pencil scratching ] 41 00:03:10,146 --> 00:03:14,671 - December 3rd, 1950. 42 00:03:14,716 --> 00:03:17,109 I've spent the day thumbing through old paintings 43 00:03:17,152 --> 00:03:18,763 in the studio, 44 00:03:18,806 --> 00:03:22,201 many of them from decades ago. 45 00:03:22,245 --> 00:03:25,292 The canvases take me back to a time less encumbered 46 00:03:25,335 --> 00:03:27,685 by what might have been, 47 00:03:27,728 --> 00:03:31,079 the beginning of it all. 48 00:03:31,122 --> 00:03:33,212 I still remember leaving Chicago, 49 00:03:33,256 --> 00:03:35,301 boarding an ocean liner headed for Europe. 50 00:03:35,344 --> 00:03:39,828 [ Bell clanging ] I was 19 years old. 51 00:03:39,871 --> 00:03:44,311 I'd saved every penny to achieve my dream, 52 00:03:44,353 --> 00:03:47,531 to study art in Paris. 53 00:03:47,574 --> 00:03:51,317 ♪ 54 00:03:51,360 --> 00:03:55,843 - Paris was the art center of the world, 55 00:03:55,887 --> 00:04:00,240 and Leyendecker studied at the Académie Julian, which was 56 00:04:01,937 --> 00:04:04,504 more encouraging of the free spirit to come out. 57 00:04:07,028 --> 00:04:10,379 And he actually got to study and become friendly with 58 00:04:10,424 --> 00:04:13,687 the famous French poster artists -- 59 00:04:13,730 --> 00:04:15,646 Chéret... 60 00:04:15,689 --> 00:04:17,473 Toulouse-Lautrec... 61 00:04:17,518 --> 00:04:21,956 and Mucha, who became JC's mentor. 62 00:04:24,742 --> 00:04:29,529 This was Art Nouveau, which was less formal, 63 00:04:30,399 --> 00:04:33,403 and all this advertising art 64 00:04:33,447 --> 00:04:38,189 was plastered all over the Paris streets. 65 00:04:39,191 --> 00:04:43,673 And JC was entranced. 66 00:04:43,718 --> 00:04:45,980 He realized that you could do something 67 00:04:46,024 --> 00:04:48,939 that you felt good about as an artist, 68 00:04:48,983 --> 00:04:53,683 but you were also delivering a message to an audience. 69 00:04:55,773 --> 00:04:58,949 So he went to the center of publishing, 70 00:04:58,994 --> 00:05:00,690 which was New York. 71 00:05:00,735 --> 00:05:05,740 ♪ 72 00:05:06,610 --> 00:05:09,786 - When he arrives in New York, 73 00:05:09,831 --> 00:05:13,574 this is right after the Oscar Wilde trial, 74 00:05:13,617 --> 00:05:17,925 when Wilde is locked up for being gay. 75 00:05:17,968 --> 00:05:20,928 So Leyendecker is coming at a moment 76 00:05:20,971 --> 00:05:25,454 when there's such concern about degeneracy in the arts. 77 00:05:27,021 --> 00:05:29,372 And wanting to be a commercial artist, 78 00:05:29,415 --> 00:05:31,374 Leyendecker had to keep 79 00:05:31,418 --> 00:05:35,725 his sexuality under wraps, of course. 80 00:05:35,769 --> 00:05:39,295 - And in 1899, 81 00:05:39,338 --> 00:05:43,821 Leyendecker did his first cover for "The Saturday Evening Post," 82 00:05:45,432 --> 00:05:47,476 and at the time, "The Saturday Evening Post" 83 00:05:47,521 --> 00:05:52,264 was the most popular weekly magazine across America. 84 00:05:53,875 --> 00:05:58,661 And its cover told the whole story in one image. 85 00:05:58,706 --> 00:06:03,057 So for Leyendecker, this was a moment of arrival. 86 00:06:06,408 --> 00:06:09,586 Leyendecker was a master 87 00:06:09,629 --> 00:06:13,502 at painting the male figure. 88 00:06:13,547 --> 00:06:17,420 He found candlelight was exaggerating the light 89 00:06:17,463 --> 00:06:19,509 and the shadow, 90 00:06:19,552 --> 00:06:23,512 so if he would put a little oil on the muscles of his models, 91 00:06:23,557 --> 00:06:27,473 he could then capture an exquisite male form. 92 00:06:27,516 --> 00:06:31,434 ♪ 93 00:06:31,478 --> 00:06:36,221 He would always have the most gorgeous men model for him. 94 00:06:37,526 --> 00:06:41,401 And some of them became famous actors, 95 00:06:41,444 --> 00:06:45,230 such as John Barrymore... 96 00:06:45,274 --> 00:06:47,884 - I fell in love last night. 97 00:06:47,928 --> 00:06:50,409 - ...Brian Donlevy... 98 00:06:50,452 --> 00:06:53,500 - I know. Its tough. 99 00:06:53,543 --> 00:06:56,284 - ..and Fredric March... 100 00:06:56,327 --> 00:06:58,853 - Man is not truly one, 101 00:06:58,896 --> 00:07:01,245 but truly two. 102 00:07:01,290 --> 00:07:04,946 - But then... 103 00:07:04,988 --> 00:07:09,341 - It was late 1903 when a particularly striking young man 104 00:07:09,384 --> 00:07:12,562 appeared at my door. 105 00:07:12,605 --> 00:07:15,608 He said his name was Charles A. Beach 106 00:07:15,651 --> 00:07:17,437 and that he wanted to be a model. 107 00:07:22,528 --> 00:07:25,139 - Leyendecker was enthralled 108 00:07:25,182 --> 00:07:28,055 with Beach's tall, beautiful body 109 00:07:28,098 --> 00:07:32,843 and his perfect nose, perfect eyes, perfect mouth. 110 00:07:33,930 --> 00:07:37,891 He loved painting Charles Beach. 111 00:07:39,153 --> 00:07:41,721 - I was hired by Arrow shirts 112 00:07:41,764 --> 00:07:44,855 to design an advertisement for their new collars 113 00:07:44,899 --> 00:07:48,946 that would feature a man in Arrow clothes. 114 00:07:48,990 --> 00:07:50,644 I pitched their advertising director 115 00:07:50,687 --> 00:07:53,603 to make it something more -- 116 00:07:53,646 --> 00:07:57,781 not simply a man, but the perfect man, 117 00:07:57,824 --> 00:08:01,697 brought to life in an advertisement. 118 00:08:01,742 --> 00:08:05,223 - He gave him different hair coloring many times, 119 00:08:05,266 --> 00:08:08,531 but the Arrow collar man was always Charles Beach. 120 00:08:11,795 --> 00:08:16,233 And Arrow shirts sold like crazy, 121 00:08:16,278 --> 00:08:20,935 putting almost every other shirt maker out of business. 122 00:08:22,980 --> 00:08:25,374 Before that point, the male fashion plate 123 00:08:25,417 --> 00:08:28,158 was incredibly rigid, 124 00:08:28,202 --> 00:08:33,250 just like cut-out dolls, essentially. 125 00:08:33,294 --> 00:08:36,602 But Leyendecker's clothed figures are always nude, 126 00:08:36,645 --> 00:08:38,648 in a way, 127 00:08:38,692 --> 00:08:43,434 because there's always a body underneath that suit. 128 00:08:45,176 --> 00:08:48,918 And that is something that we may take for granted today. 129 00:08:50,442 --> 00:08:52,313 You know, you sell through the body. 130 00:08:52,356 --> 00:08:56,971 ♪ 131 00:08:57,014 --> 00:08:59,408 But Leyendecker was one of the first, 132 00:08:59,451 --> 00:09:02,585 if not the first, to do that. 133 00:09:05,980 --> 00:09:10,767 - The Arrow collar man became the first male sex symbol. 134 00:09:12,376 --> 00:09:16,643 I mean, even my age, I still find a well-dressed man sexy. 135 00:09:19,645 --> 00:09:23,562 - There was something about the way Leyendecker captured men 136 00:09:23,605 --> 00:09:26,477 that straight women would find appealing 137 00:09:26,522 --> 00:09:28,480 and a straight man would look at and say, 138 00:09:28,524 --> 00:09:31,571 "I want to look like him," or, "I want to be like him." 139 00:09:31,614 --> 00:09:35,618 But a gay man would say, "Mmm! [Laughs] 140 00:09:35,662 --> 00:09:39,883 There's someone I think I might want to put on the wall." 141 00:09:39,927 --> 00:09:44,322 - It was an innovation. 142 00:09:44,365 --> 00:09:48,587 And as Charles Beach posed more and more for Leyendecker, 143 00:09:50,633 --> 00:09:53,027 they fell in love. 144 00:09:57,292 --> 00:09:59,903 - When I first came out, I always had a hard time 145 00:09:59,947 --> 00:10:01,904 because, you know, I find trans women 146 00:10:01,948 --> 00:10:03,732 to be the most beautiful women, right? 147 00:10:03,777 --> 00:10:05,517 We're powerful and we walk down the street, 148 00:10:05,561 --> 00:10:07,258 and I'm like, "Oh, my God, yes!" 149 00:10:07,302 --> 00:10:08,563 You know, I want to be real loud, but I'm like, 150 00:10:08,607 --> 00:10:10,479 "You know, you have to be subtle, you know? 151 00:10:10,522 --> 00:10:13,003 Maybe the girl doesn't want everybody to know her tea." 152 00:10:13,047 --> 00:10:16,136 So I give little hand gestures and little winks, 153 00:10:16,179 --> 00:10:19,096 just to acknowledge that, you know, I recognize you. 154 00:10:19,139 --> 00:10:22,664 And this kind of coding is what JC Leyendecker does 155 00:10:22,708 --> 00:10:25,711 in a lot of his images. 156 00:10:25,754 --> 00:10:30,499 - He builds a kind of homoerotic intimacy and physical connection 157 00:10:32,066 --> 00:10:34,546 in places where you may not even notice it. 158 00:10:38,506 --> 00:10:43,206 Like, he's very interested in putting male athletes 159 00:10:43,250 --> 00:10:45,427 in various states of undress 160 00:10:45,470 --> 00:10:49,212 in relationship to clothed men. 161 00:10:49,256 --> 00:10:51,562 - Or when he was given a commission -- 162 00:10:51,606 --> 00:10:54,697 "We have a new collar coming out for Arrow shirts. 163 00:10:54,740 --> 00:10:56,350 You run with it" -- 164 00:10:56,394 --> 00:10:59,701 he comes up with a gorgeous depiction of sexual tension. 165 00:10:59,745 --> 00:11:02,792 - This man who's holding the golf clubs -- 166 00:11:02,836 --> 00:11:05,794 he's got an interesting grip on that bag -- 167 00:11:05,839 --> 00:11:08,711 the way it's splayed between his legs, 168 00:11:08,754 --> 00:11:11,975 the way it covers the crotch, the direction of it, 169 00:11:12,019 --> 00:11:14,063 and there's another man that's looking 170 00:11:14,107 --> 00:11:16,153 really past the woman in between them 171 00:11:16,197 --> 00:11:20,201 at looking at him. 172 00:11:20,244 --> 00:11:24,205 - This was coded advertising with a double message 173 00:11:24,248 --> 00:11:26,729 that's supposed to, you know, portray one thing, 174 00:11:26,773 --> 00:11:29,210 but it really means another. 175 00:11:29,253 --> 00:11:33,822 And for people who aren't familiar with queer culture, 176 00:11:33,866 --> 00:11:36,477 that would go right over their heads. 177 00:11:36,520 --> 00:11:38,480 - As subtle as he was, 178 00:11:38,523 --> 00:11:41,961 he was still showing us male relationships, 179 00:11:42,004 --> 00:11:45,182 this intimacy between men. 180 00:11:45,225 --> 00:11:50,100 - So Leyendecker -- through his seductive surfaces, 181 00:11:50,144 --> 00:11:54,365 he is able to lend anything a kind of homoeroticism. 182 00:11:54,408 --> 00:11:58,934 ♪ 183 00:11:58,979 --> 00:12:02,938 - For many years, I owned a particular advertisement 184 00:12:02,982 --> 00:12:07,813 painted by JC Leyendecker for an Ivory soap bar. 185 00:12:07,856 --> 00:12:11,556 It looked absolutely magnificent on the wall, 186 00:12:11,600 --> 00:12:14,384 and I walked by it all the time. 187 00:12:14,428 --> 00:12:19,042 So one day, Whoopi Goldberg, who was a friend of mine, 188 00:12:19,086 --> 00:12:20,956 came over, and she said, 189 00:12:21,000 --> 00:12:23,220 "Judy, did you see that painting?" 190 00:12:23,264 --> 00:12:26,571 And I said, "Yes, I've had it for 10 years." 191 00:12:26,615 --> 00:12:29,356 So I looked at it just like I've always looked at it, 192 00:12:29,399 --> 00:12:32,663 and I said, "I don't see. Is there something the matter?" 193 00:12:32,707 --> 00:12:36,364 And she finally points 194 00:12:36,407 --> 00:12:39,453 to the shadow of an erection. 195 00:12:43,023 --> 00:12:45,764 And now that's the only thing I see. 196 00:12:45,807 --> 00:12:49,506 - It's kind of hard to imagine [laughs] that he didn't -- 197 00:12:49,551 --> 00:12:51,857 that he didn't know what he was doing when he did that. 198 00:12:51,900 --> 00:12:53,816 [ Clears throat ] 199 00:12:57,080 --> 00:12:59,299 I was partner and founder of an agency 200 00:12:59,342 --> 00:13:03,826 that specialized in LGBT marketing in the early '90s. 201 00:13:05,087 --> 00:13:06,610 And we learned that the lesbian community 202 00:13:06,654 --> 00:13:09,440 had been a big fan of Subaru for years. 203 00:13:09,484 --> 00:13:11,225 It was kind of like a little secret. 204 00:13:13,052 --> 00:13:16,056 It became a game of figuring out, 205 00:13:16,099 --> 00:13:19,407 how do we signal the consumer that this ad is meant for them 206 00:13:19,450 --> 00:13:21,495 using just language? 207 00:13:21,538 --> 00:13:24,716 And one of the first campaigns that most successfully did that 208 00:13:24,759 --> 00:13:29,504 had vanity plates designed to speak to the consumer. 209 00:13:31,288 --> 00:13:33,899 And at the time, Lucy Lawless was in "Xena: Warrior Princess." 210 00:13:33,942 --> 00:13:37,293 And for some reason, the lesbians adored Xena. 211 00:13:37,337 --> 00:13:39,209 So that was one of the plates. 212 00:13:40,557 --> 00:13:42,778 And so I'm standing at a corner in San Francisco, 213 00:13:42,822 --> 00:13:47,347 and a bus pulls up, and it had one of these ads on the side. 214 00:13:47,390 --> 00:13:51,134 And straight people just looked at it as if it was nothing, 215 00:13:51,177 --> 00:13:54,094 but a gay couple looked at it and they kind of pointed at 216 00:13:54,136 --> 00:13:57,445 the "XENA LVR" plate, and they start laughing. 217 00:13:57,488 --> 00:13:59,360 And I thought, "Job done." 218 00:13:59,403 --> 00:14:01,404 They connected all the dots, and they got, 219 00:14:01,448 --> 00:14:03,929 "That's for me. That's the message for me." 220 00:14:03,972 --> 00:14:06,715 And I now realize that the solutions 221 00:14:06,758 --> 00:14:09,326 that we came up with for Subaru -- 222 00:14:09,370 --> 00:14:12,677 they're not that different than what JC Leyendecker did 223 00:14:12,721 --> 00:14:14,897 back in the 1920s. 224 00:14:17,378 --> 00:14:21,120 - In JC Leyendecker's imagery of Charles Beach, 225 00:14:21,163 --> 00:14:25,472 you see a definite strong love for him, you know? 226 00:14:25,515 --> 00:14:28,302 And I think when you are trying to get 227 00:14:28,345 --> 00:14:31,566 authentic emotion within art, 228 00:14:31,609 --> 00:14:33,567 the relationship between artists, 229 00:14:33,610 --> 00:14:36,918 like painter and subject, is so important. 230 00:14:38,615 --> 00:14:40,443 - Leyendecker and Charles Beach 231 00:14:40,488 --> 00:14:43,577 were in a committed relationship. 232 00:14:43,620 --> 00:14:48,017 And Leyendecker recognized that they complemented each other. 233 00:14:51,368 --> 00:14:54,937 JC was more interested in just painting, 234 00:14:54,980 --> 00:15:00,115 while Charles was the business personality. 235 00:15:00,159 --> 00:15:04,903 So eventually, Charles became his manager. 236 00:15:06,340 --> 00:15:07,863 They were making, in today's dollars, 237 00:15:07,907 --> 00:15:10,778 millions of dollars. 238 00:15:10,822 --> 00:15:13,476 And they moved into a beautiful mansion. 239 00:15:13,520 --> 00:15:17,611 ♪ 240 00:15:17,654 --> 00:15:20,005 They had acres of land 241 00:15:20,048 --> 00:15:22,355 so they could be out in the garden 242 00:15:22,399 --> 00:15:26,011 or inside, modeling and painting. 243 00:15:26,054 --> 00:15:30,145 ♪ 244 00:15:30,190 --> 00:15:33,149 They had spectacular parties. 245 00:15:33,192 --> 00:15:36,456 It was like "The Great Gatsby." 246 00:15:36,500 --> 00:15:40,851 F. Scott Fitzgerald and other famous friends would come 247 00:15:40,895 --> 00:15:45,073 who were very open and interested in art. 248 00:15:46,727 --> 00:15:50,600 - The '20s was a moment of great progress and visibility 249 00:15:50,644 --> 00:15:52,995 for queer folks. 250 00:15:53,038 --> 00:15:57,433 - And New York at that time was arguably the place to be 251 00:15:57,477 --> 00:15:59,610 if you're gay. 252 00:15:59,653 --> 00:16:04,398 - You have these nightclubs that were melting pots of New York, 253 00:16:05,702 --> 00:16:07,749 where people of different identities, 254 00:16:07,792 --> 00:16:09,533 like gender variant people, 255 00:16:09,576 --> 00:16:13,014 what we consider to be drag queens nowadays, 256 00:16:13,058 --> 00:16:17,453 could have community at and be free. 257 00:16:17,498 --> 00:16:20,543 - And this is Leyendecker and Beach's life. 258 00:16:20,587 --> 00:16:22,850 ♪ 259 00:16:22,894 --> 00:16:25,071 - In the Roaring Twenties, 260 00:16:25,114 --> 00:16:29,900 American illustrators were like celebrities today. 261 00:16:29,945 --> 00:16:32,556 And Leyendecker was a household name. 262 00:16:35,864 --> 00:16:40,607 And it's because of the iconic American imagery he created, 263 00:16:42,436 --> 00:16:46,701 like his holiday covers for "The Saturday Evening Post." 264 00:16:48,442 --> 00:16:52,315 - Leyendecker provided the imagery for American traditions, 265 00:16:52,359 --> 00:16:57,102 around which those holidays then start to be organized -- 266 00:16:58,451 --> 00:17:00,235 fireworks as a part of the 4th of July, 267 00:17:00,279 --> 00:17:03,804 flowers on Mother's Day. 268 00:17:03,847 --> 00:17:08,027 - And he came up with the rotund, jolly Santa Claus 269 00:17:08,069 --> 00:17:10,071 that you see all around today. 270 00:17:13,205 --> 00:17:17,688 So advertisers demanded JC Leyendecker. 271 00:17:17,731 --> 00:17:22,476 He captured that essence of "The Great Gatsby" era 272 00:17:23,999 --> 00:17:25,913 when you were carefree and gay and uninhibited. 273 00:17:25,957 --> 00:17:30,961 ♪ 274 00:17:33,313 --> 00:17:34,443 - The richest country in the world 275 00:17:34,488 --> 00:17:37,621 began a bitter journey downhill. 276 00:17:37,664 --> 00:17:40,145 The stock market buckled and crashed, 277 00:17:40,189 --> 00:17:44,192 and the nation's economy plummeted into the Depression. 278 00:17:44,237 --> 00:17:47,457 - In the '30s, during the Depression, 279 00:17:47,500 --> 00:17:49,894 it's as if it's a back-to-basics, 280 00:17:49,938 --> 00:17:54,376 back-to-morality kind of moment in the U.S. 281 00:17:54,421 --> 00:17:57,205 And there was this clamping down 282 00:17:57,250 --> 00:18:01,297 on anything deemed excessive or non-normative. 283 00:18:01,340 --> 00:18:04,734 - These laws are put in place to police people, 284 00:18:04,778 --> 00:18:08,957 to police how people dress, to police who they love. 285 00:18:09,000 --> 00:18:13,482 - So JC and Charles hid their relationship from the public 286 00:18:14,919 --> 00:18:17,922 because society wasn't open 287 00:18:17,965 --> 00:18:20,185 and society wasn't accepting. 288 00:18:20,229 --> 00:18:22,101 [ Indistinct talking ] 289 00:18:25,886 --> 00:18:29,586 - At a banquet for the New Rochelle Art Association, 290 00:18:29,630 --> 00:18:34,242 I met a young illustrator named Norman Rockwell. 291 00:18:34,287 --> 00:18:37,115 It seemed he was looking for something of a mentor. 292 00:18:39,204 --> 00:18:42,817 Rockwell took a studio next to mine in the city. 293 00:18:42,859 --> 00:18:46,907 He'd often knock on my door and ask my advice on a painting. 294 00:18:46,951 --> 00:18:51,694 - It was Rockwell's aspiration to become like Leyendecker. 295 00:18:53,174 --> 00:18:56,003 He even wanted to know Leyendecker's secret 296 00:18:56,047 --> 00:18:58,528 of how he painted. 297 00:18:58,572 --> 00:19:01,009 And Rockwell confesses in his book, 298 00:19:01,051 --> 00:19:04,838 "I tried and I failed." 299 00:19:04,882 --> 00:19:09,017 - Rockwell said again and again he wanted to please people, 300 00:19:09,059 --> 00:19:12,412 like the audience of "The Saturday Evening Post" -- 301 00:19:12,454 --> 00:19:16,589 those middle-class, straight Americans. 302 00:19:16,633 --> 00:19:20,201 And Leyendecker didn't do any of that. 303 00:19:20,246 --> 00:19:22,422 [ Cheers and applause ] 304 00:19:22,464 --> 00:19:27,077 - While Leyendecker shrunk from the public eye, 305 00:19:27,122 --> 00:19:31,560 Rockwell sought it. 306 00:19:31,605 --> 00:19:36,392 And it drove him to become even more popular than Leyendecker. 307 00:19:40,353 --> 00:19:42,310 - By the end of the Depression, 308 00:19:42,355 --> 00:19:45,705 I'd lost many of most of my notable commissions, 309 00:19:45,749 --> 00:19:49,230 among them Arrow collar and Kuppenheimer clothing. 310 00:19:51,277 --> 00:19:54,671 Then in 1942, I received word from 311 00:19:54,714 --> 00:19:57,457 "The Saturday Evening Post"'s new editor, 312 00:19:57,500 --> 00:20:00,199 informing me that my next cover illustration 313 00:20:00,241 --> 00:20:02,243 was to be my last. 314 00:20:02,288 --> 00:20:06,901 I'd created over 300 covers for the magazine over 40 years. 315 00:20:08,729 --> 00:20:11,471 Charles was beside himself with anger, 316 00:20:11,513 --> 00:20:14,212 ranting "If it weren't for JC Leyendecker, 317 00:20:14,256 --> 00:20:15,605 there would be no 'Post'!" 318 00:20:18,173 --> 00:20:20,914 [ Pencil scratching ] 319 00:20:23,308 --> 00:20:26,094 - I've looked everywhere to try to find the answer 320 00:20:26,136 --> 00:20:29,489 to why he was fired from the "Post." 321 00:20:29,531 --> 00:20:32,273 We don't really know why. 322 00:20:32,317 --> 00:20:37,365 Maybe it is because of his seclusion, his sexuality, 323 00:20:38,237 --> 00:20:40,891 but whatever the case, 324 00:20:40,934 --> 00:20:45,634 this is the moment when Leyendecker falls out of favor. 325 00:20:48,942 --> 00:20:53,643 And in the '50s, another one of these backlash periods happens. 326 00:20:55,036 --> 00:20:58,299 And the repressive, incredibly homophobic atmosphere 327 00:20:58,344 --> 00:21:03,348 of McCarthyism starts to take over American culture. 328 00:21:04,740 --> 00:21:08,744 - And so by the end of Leyendecker's career, 329 00:21:08,788 --> 00:21:13,402 he and Beach became more reclusive. 330 00:21:13,445 --> 00:21:15,664 They kind of fell out of fashion. 331 00:21:18,798 --> 00:21:23,151 - The house at Mount Tom Road began to feel rather lonely. 332 00:21:23,193 --> 00:21:25,153 We were forced to release all of our staff 333 00:21:25,195 --> 00:21:28,025 when the money dried up. 334 00:21:28,068 --> 00:21:32,290 So now it's just Charles and I, left to wander the gardens 335 00:21:34,030 --> 00:21:35,555 and drink alone in the great halls 336 00:21:35,597 --> 00:21:39,732 that once played host to so many wonderful people 337 00:21:39,776 --> 00:21:41,734 not so long ago. 338 00:21:44,127 --> 00:21:48,785 - Leyendecker lived with Charles Beach for 50 years, 339 00:21:50,482 --> 00:21:53,921 and then in 1951, JC was out one day, relaxing. 340 00:21:58,969 --> 00:22:02,711 He had a cocktail in his hand and it fell out, 341 00:22:02,756 --> 00:22:06,412 and he yelled for Charles, and Charles came out, 342 00:22:06,454 --> 00:22:10,763 and he died of a heart attack in Charles' arms. 343 00:22:10,807 --> 00:22:15,811 ♪ 344 00:22:19,294 --> 00:22:20,817 - Special to "The New York Times," 345 00:22:20,861 --> 00:22:23,429 August 13th -- 346 00:22:23,471 --> 00:22:27,650 "'Model' inherits $30,000. 347 00:22:27,693 --> 00:22:32,438 Joseph C. Leyendecker left half of his $60,400 estate 348 00:22:33,526 --> 00:22:34,743 to a friend who had posed for 349 00:22:34,788 --> 00:22:38,226 the original Arrow collar portraits. 350 00:22:38,269 --> 00:22:40,619 The friend is Charles A. Beach, 351 00:22:40,663 --> 00:22:44,231 who had been associated with Mr. Leyendecker for 49 years 352 00:22:44,275 --> 00:22:49,019 as his secretary and aid." 353 00:22:50,455 --> 00:22:52,413 The way it's covered in the press, 354 00:22:52,458 --> 00:22:55,286 it's coded just like the art is, 355 00:22:55,329 --> 00:22:59,855 through all of these terms that circle around 356 00:22:59,900 --> 00:23:02,642 the reality of their intimacy. 357 00:23:02,684 --> 00:23:05,862 He's an aid. He's a secretary. 358 00:23:05,905 --> 00:23:10,692 I mean, Beach is his lifetime partner, 359 00:23:10,737 --> 00:23:15,480 and there's real pain and trauma there. 360 00:23:16,568 --> 00:23:19,788 - In JC's will, he had expressed 361 00:23:19,833 --> 00:23:24,837 that he wanted Beach to destroy everything -- 362 00:23:25,534 --> 00:23:28,450 all of his mementos, 363 00:23:28,493 --> 00:23:33,237 anything relating to their relationship, 364 00:23:34,151 --> 00:23:36,414 and his paintings. 365 00:23:38,590 --> 00:23:43,334 - If you feel that you have to obliterate traces of your life 366 00:23:45,684 --> 00:23:47,556 so that you won't be judged 367 00:23:47,599 --> 00:23:52,343 or your art won't be judged according to your life, 368 00:23:53,953 --> 00:23:55,825 I would imagine he didn't have high hopes 369 00:23:55,868 --> 00:23:58,740 for where queerness could live 370 00:23:58,785 --> 00:24:01,440 within mainstream culture in the U.S. 371 00:24:03,789 --> 00:24:05,487 - The more that we stay firm in our identities 372 00:24:05,530 --> 00:24:09,709 and what we stand for and what we believe, 373 00:24:09,751 --> 00:24:13,364 the more I think people will see us for us. 374 00:24:13,407 --> 00:24:16,846 - And with the power of advertising specifically 375 00:24:16,890 --> 00:24:21,721 to embed ideas in people's minds, 376 00:24:21,763 --> 00:24:25,550 one clear way to do that is to shout it out 377 00:24:25,594 --> 00:24:28,467 visually, powerfully. 378 00:24:28,509 --> 00:24:32,209 ♪ 379 00:24:32,252 --> 00:24:36,474 But, you know, we tend to think linearly about social progress. 380 00:24:38,214 --> 00:24:42,436 But it does not move in a linear fashion. 381 00:24:42,480 --> 00:24:45,308 It's cyclical. 382 00:24:45,353 --> 00:24:49,836 - As queer people, every move we make is politicized -- 383 00:24:50,923 --> 00:24:52,621 me stepping outside every day, 384 00:24:52,664 --> 00:24:55,580 me being able to love who I want to love. 385 00:24:55,624 --> 00:25:00,280 And it just further tells us that we need to keep fighting. 386 00:25:01,586 --> 00:25:05,199 - Because there's always a risk of forgetting history 387 00:25:05,241 --> 00:25:08,375 and entering another one of these backlash periods 388 00:25:08,419 --> 00:25:10,726 against queer people, 389 00:25:10,769 --> 00:25:12,554 just like with Leyendecker. 390 00:25:12,597 --> 00:25:15,601 ♪ 391 00:25:15,644 --> 00:25:18,559 His sexuality is fundamental 392 00:25:18,604 --> 00:25:23,652 to his removal from the historical record today. 393 00:25:25,306 --> 00:25:29,135 - And although he was the primary image maker of his day, 394 00:25:30,615 --> 00:25:35,055 by the time he died, he was almost forgotten. 395 00:25:35,097 --> 00:25:40,103 ♪ 396 00:25:40,756 --> 00:25:45,239 ♪ 397 00:25:46,282 --> 00:25:48,634 But 10 years after his death, 398 00:25:48,676 --> 00:25:53,942 an artist rented Leyendecker's studio. 399 00:25:55,162 --> 00:25:57,643 She allowed kids to play in there, 400 00:25:57,685 --> 00:26:02,125 and they climbed a ladder, they went through a hatch, 401 00:26:02,169 --> 00:26:04,039 and they found a chest full 402 00:26:04,084 --> 00:26:07,260 of undiscovered Leyendecker artifacts, 403 00:26:07,304 --> 00:26:10,438 like sketches and paintings 404 00:26:10,480 --> 00:26:12,657 that were not destroyed. 405 00:26:12,701 --> 00:26:17,705 ♪ 406 00:26:22,405 --> 00:26:27,411 ♪ 407 00:26:32,154 --> 00:26:37,160 ♪ 408 00:26:42,122 --> 00:26:46,605 ♪ 409 00:26:51,958 --> 00:26:56,657 ♪ 410 00:27:01,619 --> 00:27:06,625 ♪ 411 00:27:11,325 --> 00:27:16,329 ♪ 412 00:27:21,335 --> 00:27:26,078 ♪ 413 00:27:31,126 --> 00:27:36,132 ♪ 414 00:27:40,875 --> 00:27:45,881 ♪ 415 00:27:50,580 --> 00:27:55,586 ♪ 416 00:28:00,242 --> 00:28:05,248 ♪ 417 00:28:10,297 --> 00:28:15,040 ♪ 418 00:28:20,046 --> 00:28:24,746 ♪ 419 00:28:29,708 --> 00:28:34,712 ♪ 420 00:28:39,413 --> 00:28:44,417 ♪ 421 00:29:04,176 --> 00:29:09,182 ♪ 422 00:29:11,444 --> 00:29:16,450 ♪ 423 00:29:21,977 --> 00:29:26,589 ♪