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 - 10 also.
 |
| 1913 Studies in Expression Reading the Play Life Publishing Co. |
 |
| 1913 The Middle of the Week. |
 |
| 1913c "For goodness sake, Albert, don't begin complaining of hard times. You know very well that, in our position, we can't afford to economize." Life Publishing Co. |
 |
| 1913c Advice to the mentally feeble - keep out of politics pen and ink Library of Congress, Washington, DC |
 |
| 1914 "What's that place, sister?" "that's St. Patrick's Cathedral." "Is he a bigger man than Woolworth?" Life magazine October 22 1914Life Publishing Co. |
 |
| 1914 His Fortune |
 |
| 1914 Serious Business |
 |
| 1914 The Head of the House |
 |
| 1914 The Veteran |
 |
| 1914 Their First Quarrel |
 |
| 1915 Paloma Jones was a pretty woman now, and the young men of the neighborhood had made the discovery. Hearts Magazine |
 |
| 1915 Pleasure Bent Life Publishing Co. |
 |
| 1915 She gave him a rather hasty glance of rather vexed indifference, annoyed at the thought of a possible spectacle to the approaching interview. illustration for "She and Him" 45.7 x 22.9 cm |
 |
| 1915 Tragic Moments. When feelings are too strong for words Life Publishing Co. |
 |
| 1915c "Between me an' you, Uncle Jasper, don't you get awful tired of doin' what you're told? Don't be scared to answer. I won't give you away to Aunt Jane." |
 |
| 1916 A Girl in Tipperary "My heart's right there." |
 |
| 1916 Congratulations. July 14th, the Fall of the Bastille |
 |
| 1916 He: Who is that tramping around overhead? She: Oh, that's my papa, he always gets restless towards morning. |
 |
| 1916 Tragic Moments. The first stormy night in the cottage you have rented for the summer. |
 |
| 1916 Uncle Sam to the Recue Life Publishing Co. |
 |
| 1916c Her Dance. Life Publishing Co. |
 |
| 1917 "And the fool, he called her his lady fair" India ink with scraping over graphite 49.5 x 73.3 cm Library of Congress, Washington, DC |
 |
| 1917 Can you drive a car? Will you drive one in France? Immediate service at the front! poster for the American Field Service lithograph 56.3 x 35.4 cm Library of Congress, Washington, DC |
 |
| 1917 Columbia's Greater Task Red Cross Magazine |
 |
| 1917 For Humanity Life Publishing Co. |
 |
| 1917 His Word of Honour ink over graphite 45.6 x 733 cm Library of Congress, Washington, DC |
 |
| 1917 In Her Path ink over graphite 55.5 x 46.6 cm Library of Congress, Washington, DC |
 |
| 1917 Is it really getting on his nerves? ink over graphite 46.5 x 70.3 cm Library of Congress, Washington, DC |
 |
| 1917 The Last Ditch ink over graphite 45.5 x 73.3 cm Library of Congress, Washington, DC |
 |
| 1917 The Liberty Loan at Everyman's Door ink over graphite 54.9 x 47.6 cm Library of Congress, Washington, DC |
 |
| 1917 U.S. NAVY "Here he is, Sir." We need him and you too! Navy Recruiting Station poster lithograph 83.8 x 68.6 cm Museum of Modern Art, New York |
 |
| 1917 When He Comes Back Life Publishing Co. |
 |
| 1918 Inseparable ( Victory, Democracy, Peace ) Life Publishing Co. |
 |
| 1918 The Last Blow ink over graphite 46.4 x 72 cm Library of Congress, Washington, DC |
 |
| 1918c Help! The Woman's Land Army of America, New Jersey Division, State House, Trenton colour lithograph poster 103 x 69 cm Library of Congress, Washington, DC |
 |
| 1918c In the Shipyard pen and ink Library of Congress, Washington, DC |
 |
| 1918c Together you will win! National Service Section poster 63 x 48 cm |
 |
| 1919 Can you Look Him in the Face Life Magazine January 1919 |
 |
| 1919 "I am going to ask your father at once." "But I thought you really wanted to marry me?" |
 |
| 1919 The girl who didn't wait pen and ink over graphite 57.8 x 73.7 cm Library of Congress, Washington, DC |
 |
| 1920 He Promenaded the Long Verandahs, Debutantes Leaning on His Arms. |
 |
| 1920 Life magazine cover "Congratulations" October 28 1920 |
 |
| 1920 So sweetly she bade me adieu, I thought that she bade me return - Shenstone Life Publishing Co. |
 |
| 1920-29c Engagements, Saint Valentine Life magazine pen and ink on paper 48.3 x 37.5 cm |
 |
| 1921 Gibson Girl |
 |
| 1921 People we can get along without XX The old friend of the family, who asks "what you intend to be when you grow up." Life Publishing Co. |
 |
| 1921 Ladies in Waiting |
 |
| 1921 The Buy Wire |
 |
| 1922 The Old Cover Artist Goes Landscape Unfinished cover for Life Magazine pen and ink 37.7 x 53.5 cm Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, CA |
 |
| 1922 Look pleasant, please watercolour Library of Congress, Washington, DC |