Charles Dana Gibson
Personal Information
Description
Charles Dana Gibson (14 September 1867 – 23 December 1944) Charles Dana Gibson, a graphic artist best known for his creation of the 'Gibson Girl' illustrations, an iconic representation of the beautiful and independent American woman at the turn of the 20th century. His works appeared weekly in the magazine for over 30 years. Charles was born on 14 September 1867 in Roxbury, Massachusetts to Charles DeWolf Gibson and Josephine Elizabeth Lovett. He was the great-grandson of U.S. Senator James DeWolf and the great-great-grandson of U.S. Senator William Bradford. A talented youth, he was enrolled by his parents in New York's Art Students League, where he studied for two years. Peddling his pen-and-ink sketches, he sold his first work in 1886 to John Ames Mitchell's Life. He quickly built a wider reputation, his works appearing in all the major New York publications, Harper's Weekly, Scribners and Collier's. His illustrated books include the 1898 editions of Anthony Hope's The Prisoner of Zenda and its sequel Rupert of Hentzau. The development of the 'Gibson Gir'l from 1890 and her nationwide fame made Charles respected and wealthy. In 1895, he married Irene Langhorne, born in Danville, Virginia, a sister of Nancy Astor, the first woman to serve in as a Member of Parliament in the British House of Commons. The elegant Langhorne sisters, born to a once-wealthy Virginia family devastated by the Civil War, served as the inspiration for the famous 'Gibson Girls'. He became the editor and eventual owner of Life after the death of Mitchell in 1918. The popularity of the 'Gibson Girl' faded after World War I, and Charles took to working with oils for his own pleasure. On his death on 23 December 1944, Charles was interred at Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Books - Sketches in Egypt (New York: Doubleday & McClure Co., 1905) - The Gibson Girl and Her America (Dover, 2010)
Books
The Gibson girl and her America :bthe best drawings of Charles Dana Gibson
This volume includes 163 copyright-free illustrations from popular illustrator Charles Dana Gibson selected from volumes published 1894-1905.
The Gibson book
Gibson's drawings chronicled American high society in New York and Boston, where old aristocratic families mingled with each other at the exclusion of newcomers. While Gibson's subjects were mostly American, he visited Europe and drew Paris and London society as well. His drawings were done on a large scale which was greatly reduced. This gave a superb fineness and finish to the final printed image. The popularity of Gibson's cartoons created a national sensation which drew many imitators. They also dictated the fashions and manners of a generation. Men sporting beards were suddenly out, as Gibson's depiction of the 'ideal beau' was clean shaven. His cartoons today represent what Gibson's contemporaries thought, how they behaved, and what the social conventions of the time were. During the early 1890s, Gibson began to draw what would become his most famous creation, the Gibson Girl. She was tall, athletic, and beautiful. The Gibson Girl epitomized the characteristics of the ideal turn-of-the-century American woman and fulfilled American society's need for an aristocracy of their own. This creation first appeared in the book Drawings and was an immediate success. Images of the Gibson Girl appeared on dishes, pillows, shirtwaists, shoes, dressing-table sets, folio books, and even wallpaper.
Rupert of Hentzau: From the Memoirs of Fritz Von Tarlenheim, Sequel to the "Prisoner of Zenda."
Queen Flavia, dutifully but unhappily married to her cousin Rudolf V, writes to her true love Rudolf Rassendyll. The letter is carried by von Tarlenheim to be delivered by hand, but it is stolen by the exiled Rupert of Hentzau, who sees in it a chance to return to favour by informing the pathologically jealous and paranoid King.
The Gibson girl and her America
A collection of Victorian-era illustrations featuring the Gibson Girl, a creation of American artist Charles Dana Gibson.