American Historical Ephemera & Early Photography Online

Oil on canvas depicting a B-29 Superfortress flying through Japanese airspace with Mount Fuji in the background, signed by Leydenfrost at bottom left (minor wear along edges, small loss at lower center, dent at upper left). Visible area 29 × 22 in. Frame: 32 1/4 × 25 3/4 in. Provenance: A Private Collection.

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 91 of the November 1944 issue. The B-29 Superfortress was one of the largest aircrafts used during the Second World War. Its development and manufacture was famously the most expensive program of World War II, exceeding that of the Manhattan Project by over a billion dollars. Both the Enola Gay and Bockscar were B-29 planes, making it the only aircraft to ever deliver a payload of nuclear weapons during wartime.