Charles Dana Gibson (September 14, 1867 – December 23, 1944)
was an American illustrator. He was best known for his creation of the
Gibson Girl
The Gibson Girl was the personification of the feminine ideal of physical attractiveness as portrayed by the pen-and-ink illustrations of artist Charles Dana Gibson during a 20-year period that spanned the late 19th and early 20th centuries in th ...
, an iconic representation of the beautiful and independent Euro-American woman at the turn of the 20th century.
His wife, Irene Langhorne, and her four sisters inspired his images. He published his illustrations in ''
Life
Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for Cell growth, growth, reaction to Stimu ...
'' magazine and other major national publications for more than 30 years, becoming editor in 1918 and later owner of the general interest magazine.
Early life
Gibson was born in
Roxbury, Massachusetts
Roxbury () is a neighborhood within the City of Boston, Massachusetts.
Roxbury is a dissolved municipality and one of 23 official neighborhoods of Boston used by the city for neighborhood services coordination. The city states that Roxbury se ...
on September 14, 1867. He was a son of Josephine Elizabeth (
née Lovett) and Charles DeWolf Gibson.
He had five siblings
and was a descendant of U.S. Senators
James DeWolf and
William Bradford.
A talented youth with an early interest in art, Gibson was enrolled by his parents in New York City's
Art Students League
The Art Students League of New York is an art school at 215 West 57th Street in Manhattan, New York City, New York. The League has historically been known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists.
Although artists may stu ...
, where he studied for two years.
Career
Peddling his pen-and-ink sketches, Gibson sold his first work in 1886 to ''
Life
Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for Cell growth, growth, reaction to Stimu ...
'' magazine, founded by
John Ames Mitchell and
Andrew Miller. It featured general interest articles, humor, illustrations, and cartoons. His works appeared weekly in the popular national magazine for more than 30 years. He quickly built a wider reputation, with his drawings being featured in all the major New York publications, including ''
Harper's Weekly
''Harper's Weekly, A Journal of Civilization'' was an American political magazine based in New York City. Published by Harper & Brothers from 1857 until 1916, it featured foreign and domestic news, fiction, essays on many subjects, and humor, ...
'', ''
Scribners'' and ''
Collier's''. His illustrated books include the 1898 editions of
Anthony Hope
Sir Anthony Hope Hawkins, better known as Anthony Hope (9 February 1863 – 8 July 1933), was a British novelist and playwright. He was a prolific writer, especially of adventure novels but he is remembered predominantly for only two books: '' T ...
's ''
The Prisoner of Zenda
''The Prisoner of Zenda'' is an 1894 adventure novel by Anthony Hope, in which the King of Ruritania is drugged on the eve of his coronation and thus is unable to attend the ceremony. Political forces within the realm are such that, in orde ...
'' and its sequel ''
Rupert of Hentzau
''Rupert of Hentzau'' is a sequel by Anthony Hope to ''The Prisoner of Zenda'', written in 1895 but not published in book form until 1898.
The novel was serialized in '' The Pall Mall Magazine'' and '' McClure's Magazine'' from December 1897 t ...
'' as well as
Richard Harding Davis
Richard Harding Davis (April 18, 1864 – April 11, 1916) was an American journalist and writer of fiction and drama, known foremost as the first American war correspondent to cover the Spanish–American War, the Second Boer War, and the First ...
' ''
Gallegher and Other Stories''.
His wife and her elegant Langhorne sisters also inspired his famous Gibson Girls, who became iconic images in early 20th-century society. Their dynamic and resourceful father
Chiswell Langhorne had his wealth severely reduced by the Civil War, but by the late 19th century, he had rebuilt his fortune on tobacco auctioneering and the railroad industry.
After the death of John Ames Mitchell in 1918, Gibson became editor of ''Life'' and later took over as owner of the magazine. As the popularity of the Gibson Girl faded after
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, Gibson took to working in oils for his own pleasure. In 1918, he was elected into the
National Academy of Design
The National Academy of Design is an honorary association of American artists, founded in New York City in 1825 by Samuel Morse, Asher Durand, Thomas Cole, Martin E. Thompson, Charles Cushing Wright, Ithiel Town, and others "to promote the f ...
as an Associate member, and became a full Academician in 1932.
He retired in 1936, the same year Scribner's published his biography, ''Portrait of an Era as Drawn by C. D. Gibson: A Biography'' by Fairfax Downey. At the time of his death in 1944, he was considered "the most celebrated pen-and-ink artist of his time as well as a painter applauded by the critics of his later work."
Personal life
On November 7, 1895, Gibson was married to Irene Langhorne (1873–1956), a daughter of railroad industrialist
Chiswell Langhorne.
Irene was born in
Danville, Virginia
Danville is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States, located in the Southside Virginia region and on the fall line of the Dan River. It was a center of tobacco production and was an area of Confederate activity ...
, and was one of five sisters, all noted for their beauty, including
Nancy Astor, Viscountess Astor
Nancy Witcher Langhorne Astor, Viscountess Astor, (19 May 1879 – 2 May 1964) was an American-born British politician who was the first woman seated as a Member of Parliament (MP), serving from 1919 to 1945.
Astor's first husband was America ...
,
the first woman to serve as a
Member of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...
(MP) in the
House of Commons of the United Kingdom. Together, Irene and Charles were the parents of two children:
* Irene Langhorne Gibson (1897–1973),
who married George Browne Post III (1890–1952), a grandson of architect
George B. Post, in 1916.
They divorced and she married real estate developer
John Josiah Emery (1898–1976) in 1926.
* Langhorne Gibson (1899–1982),
who married Marion Taylor (1902–1960) in 1922.
He later married Parthenia Burke Ross (1911–1998) in 1936.
For part of his career, Gibson lived in
New Rochelle, New York, a popular
art colony among actors, writers and artists of the period. The community was most well known for its unprecedented number of prominent American illustrators. Gibson also owned an island off
Islesboro, Maine which came to be known as 700 Acre Island; he and his wife spent an increasing amount of time here through the years.
Charles Dana Gibson at his Islesboro home, vintagemaineimages.com
Gibson died of a heart ailment in 1944, aged 77, at 127 East 73rd Street, his home in New York City. After a private funeral service at the Gibson home in New York, he was interred at Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston ...
. His widow died at her home in Greenwood, Virginia in April 1956 at the age of 83.
Legacy
Almost unrestricted merchandising saw his distinctive sketches appear in many forms. The Gibson cocktail has been claimed to be named after him, as it is said he favored ordering gin martinis with a pickled onion garnish in place of the traditional olive or lemon zest.
Work
File:Zenda1 Gibson.jpg, Frontispiece to ''The Prisoner of Zenda'', 1898
File:Hentzau Gibson.jpg, Illustration from ''Rupert of Hentzau'', 1898
File:At the Beach, Gibson.jpg, ''At the Beach'', 1901
File:Fancy Dress, Gibson.jpg, ''Fancy Dress'', 1901
File:Love in a Garden, Gibson.jpg, ''Love in a Garden'', 1901
File:The Crush, Gibson.jpg, ''The Crush'', 1901
File:Art Lesson, Charles Dana Gibson.jpg, ''Art Lesson'', 1901
File:Everything in the World That Money Can Buy, Gibson.jpg, ''Everything in the World That Money Can Buy'', 1901
File:Stepped On, Gibson.jpg, ''Stepped On'', 1901
File:Fanned Out, Charles Dana Gibson.jpg, ''Fanned Out'', 1914
File:Charles Dana Gibson (1902) Studies in expression. When women are jurors (compressed).jpg, ''Studies in Expression: When Women Are Jurors'', 1902
File:LIFEMagazine26Mar1925.jpg, March 26, 1925 ''Life'' cover by Gibson
See also
* Longfield (Charles Dana Gibson House)
Citations
General and cited sources
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External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Gibson, Charles Dana
1867 births
1944 deaths
19th-century American artists
American cartoonists
American illustrators
Art Students League of New York alumni
Artists from New Rochelle, New York
Burials at Mount Auburn Cemetery
DeWolf family
Members of the Salmagundi Club
People from Islesboro, Maine
People from Roxbury, Boston
Pin-up artists
Presidents of the Society of Illustrators
Members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters