Alexander Leydenfrost (Baron Sándor Leidenfrost) (March 18, 1888 in

Debrecen Debrecen ( ; ; ; ) is Hungary's cities of Hungary, second-largest city, after Budapest, the regional centre of the Northern Great Plain Regions of Hungary, region and the seat of Hajdú-Bihar County. A city with county rights, it was the large ...

– June 1961) was a Hungarian-born American industrial designer and illustrator. He was a

baron Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often Hereditary title, hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than ...

in the

Austro-Hungarian Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military and diplomatic alliance, it consist ...

monarchy, with his family title dating back to the 16th century. Upon moving to the United States in the 1920s Leydenfrost altered the spelling of his name in an attempt to correct the mispronunciation of his name, and also changed his name from Sándor to the equivalent "Alexander". Leydenfrost studied at the Royal Academy of Fine and Applied Arts of Budapest. In 1919, he was appointed as a professor of 'industrial design' at the

Royal Joseph Technical University The Budapest University of Technology and Economics ( or in short ), official abbreviation BME, is a public research university located in Budapest, Hungary. It is the most significant university of technology in the country and is considered t ...

, also in Budapest. The collapse of Austria-Hungary caused him to emigrate to the United States in 1923, where he began working for the well known artist-illustrator William Andrew Pogany, designing stage sets and painting large

murals A mural is any piece of graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' is a Spanish ...

, as well as being a featured regular in

magazine A magazine is a periodical literature, periodical publication, print or digital, produced on a regular schedule, that contains any of a variety of subject-oriented textual and visual content (media), content forms. Magazines are generally fin ...

publications. In 1929, Leydenfrost went to work for world-renowned industrial designer

Norman Bel Geddes Norman Bel Geddes (born Norman Melancton Geddes; April 27, 1893 – May 8, 1958) was an American theatrical and industrial designer, described in 2012 by the New York Times as "a brilliant craftsman and draftsman, a master of style, the 20t ...

, developing Toledo Scale designs and also the re-design of the

Chrysler Airflow The Chrysler Airflow is a full-size car produced by Chrysler from 1934 to 1937. The Airflow was the first full-size American production car to use streamlining as a basis for building a sleeker automobile, one less susceptible to air resistance. ...

. He was also involved with the design of the 1939 New York World's Fair Pavilion for

General Motors General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. The company is most known for owning and manufacturing f ...

. In 1939 Leydenfrost turned from his career as an industrial designer to that of a professional illustrator-artist. He briefly worked for the science fiction magazine ''

Planet Stories ''Planet Stories'' was an American pulp science fiction magazine, published by Fiction House between 1939 and 1955. It featured interplanetary adventures, both in space and on some other planets, and was initially focused on a young readershi ...

'' before being signed by ''

Life Life, also known as biota, refers to matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes. It is defined descriptively by the capacity for homeostasis, Structure#Biological, organisation, met ...

'' magazine. ''Life'' needed someone who could illustrate unfolding events in Europe, and Leydenfrost's photo-realistic style filled the need. He continued to illustrate for ''Life'' throughout his career, in addition to other major magazines including ''

Skyways Skyways may refer to: *Skyway A skyway, skybridge, skywalk, or sky walkway is an elevated type of pedway connecting two or more buildings in an urban area, or connecting elevated points within mountainous recreational zones. Urban skyways ver ...

'', ''

Liberty Liberty is the state of being free within society from oppressive restrictions imposed by authority on one's way of life, behavior, or political views. The concept of liberty can vary depending on perspective and context. In the Constitutional ...

'', '' Look'', ''

Popular Science Popular science (also called pop-science or popsci) is an interpretation of science intended for a general audience. While science journalism focuses on recent scientific developments, popular science is more broad ranging. It may be written ...

'' and ''

Esquire Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title. In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentleman ...

''. Despite the small body of work he created for ''Planet Stories'',Planet Stories – Fall 1942
/ref> many science fiction enthusiasts consider his artwork for that magazine to be that publication's finest.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Leydenfrost, Alexander 1888 births 1961 deaths American science fiction artists Hungarian science fiction artists Hungarian industrial designers Hungarian nobility American illustrators People from Debrecen Hungarian emigrants to the United States Academic staff of the Budapest University of Technology and Economics