A Gibson Girl illustration
And now, a gorgeous Gibson Girl.
This Gibson Girl illustration is by the American artist, Charles Dana Gibson. Originally drawn as ink on paper, it was published in 1902 in Gibson’s illustrated book, The Social Ladder. Gibson began drawing illustrations of his “Gibson Girl” in 1890 in an attempt to create the modern American beauty ideal. These illustrations proved to be very successful with both magazine publications and the public.
The Gibson Girl was created to represent the idealized independent and beautiful American women of the new twentieth century. Gibson’s creation was extremely popular and remained so for almost 20 years. The Gibson Girl was tall and slender with a very small waist, curvy hips, and hair piled high on her head in the fashionable bouffant of the day. She was very stylish, always wearing the newest fads, but was also athletic and strong. Interestingly, Gibson’s women are frequently depicted as much more intelligent than their male companions. The men are often goofy and clumsy, trying their hardest to get the women’s attention and approval.
Starting in 1894, Gibson published a series of art books featuring his Gibson Girl illustrations. They were uniform in size at 11¾” x 17¾”. The Social Ladder was the seventh book in that series and included 84 black and white illustrations. Gibson’s art focused on the lives of members of high society and were often satirical and humorous. As an illustrator, Gibson was interested in depicting the social scenes of the day, rather than political ones. Gibson drew his art large scale, so that when it was reduced for publication, it would create a more finished look with depth and detail.
Original prints of The Social Ladder, with this Gibson Girl illustration are currently located in many collections, including the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City, and the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, Georgia, in the United States. A scan of the entire original 1902 publication can be viewed online here.
For more on Charles Dana Gibson, please visit his short biography here.
You can find more artists to learn about here.
