Charles Dana Gibson the Life

Charles Dana Gibson

The Life and Art of Charles Dana Gibson (National Museum American Illustrators found online at: http://www.americanillustration.org/html/cg/bio.html,2008)

1867 was the year Charles Dana Gibson was born, who would grow up to become an illustrator for Life Magazine, and whose work, though never fully a realization of what he wanted to accomplish for himself as an artist; would revolutionize the image of the American woman (Zimmerman, Jill, 1997, p. 20). Gibson began his career at eight years old as an apprentice to his father, a wealthy New England silhouette maker (National Museum of American Illustration (NMAI), found online at: (http://www.americanillustration.org/html/cg/bio.html).Gibson demonstrated entrepreneurial skills and by the time he was 12, he was selling his silhouettes at exhibitions (NMAI, online). At 14, the artist went to work with the famous sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens, where Gibson learned that sculpting was not what he wanted to pursue (NMAI).

Gibson's time in a formal center for learning art was brief, as a result of family financial difficulties (NMAI). However, he was later to become a highly recognized name when, working for Life magazine as an illustrator he achieved fame and fortune (NMAI). Unfortunately, his work at Life would be all consuming, and Gibson would be in his sixties by the time he turned his attention to oil painting, which he expressed as his true desire to pursue as an artist (NMAI).

Gibson brought to America an image of the American woman around which American fashion and design revolved around (NMAI). His Gibson girl images were etchings of women, images that Gibson no doubt found attractive, and most of America seemed to agree with him (NMAI).

March 14, 1895 Life magazine cover etching, Charles Dana Gibson (the Forum Online Antiques Mall, found at: http://www.the-forum.com/books/life.htm,2008)..

Picturesque America circa 1900

Portrait of Charles Dana Gibson's Daughter - 1938 (Artnet.com, online at (http://www.artnet.com/artist/6937/charles-dana-gibson.html).

4 Gods Surround Baby in Crib, Charles Dana Gibson, circa 1898 (14 ae x 20 1/2") (NMAI, online at: http://www.americanillustration.org/html/cg/001.html,2008).

Life Magazine Cover August 4, 1921 (the Forum OnLine Antiques Mall, found at: http://www.the-forum.com/books/life.htm,2008).

That the Gibson girl depicted a Victorian looking woman, her hair piled loosely but meticulously atop her head, full cheeks, and actually captured and conveyed the clear softness of her complexion, and emphasized the petite smallness of the woman and her very delicately small waistline (see figure #1). Perhaps it comes of no surprise once we know that Gibson married Irene Langhorne, of the Langhorne sisters who would marry well and become famous (Knight, John, 1999, p. 329). Irene is described by journalist John Knight this way:

Irene, who was taller than the others, had a dimple in her chin, the bosom of a classic Southern Belle and a twenty-inch waist - Chillie (pronounced "Shilly") never permitted her admirers to put their arms round it - and she had received sixty-two proposals of marriage before she finally said 'yes' to Charles Dana Gibson, creator of the 'Gibson Girl'. Tall, straight, with long skirts and waisted blouses, his creation became an icon for the American youth of the Gilded Age (p. 329)."

It was this "classic Southern Belle" image that became the image of Gibson's famous trend setting Gibson Girls (see picture #1). As we look at the images of the Gibson Girls #1), we see the same style created by Charles Dana Gibson based on etchings he made of his wife. The images are done in ink and pen, perspectives of the head. The women are alluring, some images with closed eyes, looking as though they are waiting to be kissed. While others are wide eyed and looking playful and flirtatious. Certainly the images of the Gibson Girls he created portray the perspective of a man infatuated, even in love, with the image of the woman who we know was Irene Longhorne.

The impact Gibson had on the image that young women had of themselves is evidenced by historian references to his work.

The last of the early attempts to interpret the world of the women's colleges to the public is Abbe Carter Goodloe's College Girls (1895), a collection of short stories, several of which had been previously published in Scribner's Monthly Magazine. Goodloe graduated from Wellesley about 1888 and wrote at least one novel and essays for several magazines; her book is a handsome volume illustrated by Charles Dana Gibson, whose drawings of girls frequently decorated the walls of college rooms (Marchalonis, Shirley, 1995, p. 19)."

The success of the Gibson Girl, while it had a profound impact on fashion, also gave rise to controversy in the feminist movement that was well under way by the time Gibson introduced his trend setting Gibson Girls (p. 40). In etching #2, we see the four images (Irene and her sisters?) on the beach, fashionably attired. By this time, Gibson's girls were being used to create fashion trends, and Gibson was realizing a high financial return on his creation; such that he was unable to pursue his own artistic desires (NMAI, 2008).

What helped establish Charles Dana Gibson as a highly revered American illustrator was what he evoked in the person viewing his etchings. His work went beyond the more mundane ink and pen etchings that were found in the magazines of the era. "The secret of Gibson's artistry and the source of his interest to us as limner of American cultural values comes from his exceptional ability to image longing in and of itself (Banta, Martha, 1987, p. 212)." We see that longing, which might have been achieved by what has been described as Gibson's desire to pursue his art in the direction of those artists he admired:

As we look at the progression of Gibson's work, the Life cover depicted in picture #1 above, shows the ideal Gibson Girl that served as the fame-maker for Gibson. In picture #2, the beach scene is again an ink and pen etching featuring the famous Gibson Girl look. However, as we move to picture #3, the 1938 oil on canvas portrait of Gibson's daughter, and because we see the direction that Gibson felt was his true calling (NMAI, 2008). However, the portrait, which is a fine work of art, also betrays the artist's lack of formal training. Upon close examination it might be perceived that the artist had some amount of trouble with in consistency with form, and that he even had a tendency to levitate towards the "Gibson Girl" physique time and again. In the portrait of his daughter, we see that the artist was less than expert at hands, and this lack of control and form is evident in many of his works of art, although less obvious in the etchings; though the lack of control might be seen there as well. However, in this work of art the artist demonstrates his understanding and control of shadow and color tones. We see an excellent command of use of texture achieved by brush strokes, which conveys the multi-layered and multi-fabric texture of the young woman's dress. However, again, in the face and hair we see that Gibson reverts to a style-form of his Gibson Girl line of etchings.

Etching #4 above, Gods Surround Baby in Crib, circa 1898, is an example of the detail that Gibson was capable of accomplishing when his work - and there were many such works - ventured in a direction other than his famous Gibson Girls. In this particular etching we see the artist's command of texture, using light and shadowing with the ink to create the sense of the fabric of the garments worn by the people in the etching. These kinds of etchings really have less need for the command and control of form as do formal portraiture, like the oil painting of his daughter.

Martha Banta (1987) describes Gibson's use of pen and ink this way:

Aside from the merit derived from Gibson's forceful use of the motifs of desire, there is the obvious fact of his skill as a draughtsman and design maker. The lines of his pen and ink move and are seldom still. They writhe into the far corners of the illustration, then circle back into the energetic centers of action. His compositions make adroit use of the white areas of the page. Spaces suddenly open out in the midst of the blackness; his vigorous cross-hatching threatens to swallow the objects. Gibson's sense of perspective, the control he holds over outline, the inspired use he makes of silhouette, the sweep of the diagonals that tilt his verticals and horizontals into motion: all testify to his remarkable artistry as a master of the pure forms carved out of space by the strong lines of his pen (p. 212)."