American Historical Ephemera and Early Photography

Oil on canvas depicting a Japanese plane tumbling towards the sea as its American opponent flies away, signed by Leydenfrost at bottom right (very minor cracking). Visible area 29 × 21 in. Frame: 32 1/4 × 24 1/4 in.

Alexander Leydenfrost was a Hungarian-American industrial designer and illustrator whose artwork during the Second World War brought the immediacy and drama of the conflict into the homes of millions of Americans. Throughout the war he produced dozens of images of American military prowess for Esquire magazine; this work was reproduced on page 95 of the September 1942 issue. The Grumman F4F Wildcat was for a time the only effective fighter available to American forces in the Pacific Theater, however it was often outperformed by the Imperial Japanese Navy's Mitsubishi A6M-Zero, leading to its eventual replacement by the Grumman F6F Hellcat.