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<TITLE>Leslie Thrasher Biography</TITLE>
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<FONT COLOR="#000000" SIZE="2" FACE="HELVETICA,ARIAL"> <font face="Times New Roman, Times, serif">The
editors of <I>Liberty magazine</I>, which first appeared on the newstand
in 1924, prided themselves on innovation - any innovation that would broaden
their readership. One of their most successful and appealing ideas was
the "continuity cover", and the artist who took the assignment was <B>LESLIE
THRASHER (1889-1936)</B>. For six years, Thrasher created a cover a week
for $1,000 each, depicting the lives of a middle-class couple and their
extended family, from their high school romance to a well-heeled middle
age. Entitled "For The Love o' Lil", the series was the prototype for
the soap opera and its popularity warranted adaptations to radio and the
big screen.<BR>
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Thrasher was a populist almost in spite of his fine arts training in Philadelphia
and Paris; he even used himself as the model for the husband in the "Lil"
series. He was certainly one of Howard Pyle's most commercially successful
students. He did ads for Chesterfield Cigarettes, Cream of Wheat and DuPont,
and by the time he left <I>Liberty</I>, he had produced more cover paintings
than Norman Rockwell did in his whole career at the <I>Saturday Evening
Post</I>.<BR>
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His pictures are relatively spare, composed around a compelling action
or an object rich with meaning - an engagement ring, for instance. Thrasher
and Rockwell, while they were opposite numbers in rival publications,
did share a view of America as a nation bound by humor, common sense and
altruism. - J. P.</font></FONT><font face="Times New Roman, Times, serif"><BR>
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<B>[Magazine cover: <I>Liberty</I>, September 12, 1931; oil on canvas,
19.75 x 16.75"]</B> </font><FONT COLOR="#000000" SIZE="2" FACE="HELVETICA,ARIAL">
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