Charles Dana Gibson

1920 Portrait of Charles Dana Gibson
by Eugene Speicher

Born in Roxbury, Massachusetts, Charles Dana Gibson attended the Art Students League in New York, studying with Thomas Eakins and Kenyon Cox. Hugely successful at the turn of the century, he left New York from 1905 to 1907 to study painting in France, Spain, and Italy.

Gibson's name is still remembered for its association with the icon he created, the "Gibson Girl." This idealised, refined upper-middle-class woman became so popular that she was featured in stage plays, and her image was printed on a variety of domestic objects. The highest-paid illustrator of his time, in 1904 Gibson accepted a contract from Collier's Weekly, which paid him $100,000 for one hundred illustrations over four years. Gibson's illustrations gently satirised public life and mores. During World War I, as president of the Society of Illustrators, Gibson formed and became head of the Division of Pictorial Publicity under the Federal Committee of Public Information. Through this program, prominent illustrators were recruited to design posters, billboards, and other publicity for the war effort. His involvement with publicity during the war led Gibson to become owner and editor of Life, a New York-based magazine filled with short articles and illustrations. In the early 1930s Gibson retired in order to devote more time to painting.

For more information about Charles Dana Gibson see part 1, and for earlier works see parts 1 - 7 also.

This is part 8 of a 12-part series on the works of Charles Dana Gibson:

1903 Why She Didn't Get The Place.
Life Publishing Co.

1904 "Dangerous!"
Collier's Weekly
October 15 1904

1904 A Careful Daughter.
No Mother, this book is not at all fit for you to see."
"But you are reading it!"
"Ah, but we were brought up so differently."
Life Publishing Co.

1904 A Winner.
Collier's Weekly

1904 An Interrupted Story.
Collier's Weekly

1904 At the Horse Show (The High Jump)
Life Publishing Co.

1904 Brothers.
Collier's Weekly

1904 Collier's Weekly
Gibson Number
October 15 1904

1904 From the Bartender's Point of View.
Collier's Weekly

1904 Grandma Takes the Baby to the Photographers.
Life Publishing Co.

1904 At The Opera.
If the women wear crowns, why shouldn't the men?
Life Publishing Co.

1904 In Diplomatic Circles.
Mr. Tagg is fascinated by Washington society and decides to go into politics: he enjoys a vision of himself at the Court of St. James.
pen and ink over graphite 57.6 x 74.1 cm
Library of Congress, Washington, DC

1904 In One of Our Most Respectable Clubs, the Morning after the Big Fight.
Life Publishing Co.

1904 In Order to Preserve His Figure, Mr. Tagg Becomes a Patron of the Manly Art.
Life Publishing Co.

1904 In Politics.
Mr. Tagg finds it expensive and after all wonders if it helps him socially.
Life Publishing Co.

1904 Life's Vaudeville.
See elderly bachelor in his great double role, more particular and less desirable in 'choosing a wife.'
Life Publishing Co.

1904 Lions.
Mr. Tagg gives a Musicale and takes pleasure in introducing two rival Tenors.
Life Publishing Co.

1904 Lovers.
Collier's Weekly

1904 Millionaire: "How do I know, sir, that you have any business ability?"
"I have persuaded your daughter to marry me."
Life Publishing Co.

1904 Mr. Tagg Is Very Popular with the Dinner-Givers.
Life Publishing Co.

1904 Mr. : "The Cook Has Agreed to Stay."
Mrs. : "How did you manage it?"
"I told her it would be cowardly to leave me alone."
Life Publishing Co.

1904 Never Too Old to Yearn.
Life Publishing Co.

1904 No Use.
"Don't you think it would be a good idea to send our beloved pastor abroad?"
"But he wouldn't stay."
Life Publishing Co.

1904 Old Moneybags: "Can you sit up with my daughter every night and still do your regulat business Sir?"
"But that's my regular business."
Life Publishing Co.

1904 On the Sidewalks of New York.
Sequel to an unprofitable theatrical season.
Collier's Weekly

1904 Postponing the Inheritance.
Miss Tagg explained the game to her uncle, who is greatly improved by the exercise.
Life Publishing Co.

1904 Shocking.
Mr. Tagg learns that his daughter is going to marry an American.
Life Publishing Co.

1904 Signs of Spring.
Collier's Weekly

1904 - And - Sisters.
Collier's Weekly

1904 Skinflint: "If anything should happen to me, you will be all right. I've just insured my life."
"But suppose nothing does happen to you?"
Life Publishing Co.