Charles Dana Gibson

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Charles Dana Gibson (September 14, 1867 – December 23, 1944)<ref name="CDGObit1944"/> was an American illustrator who created the Gibson Girl, an iconic representation of the beautiful and independent American woman at the turn of the 20th century.

He published his illustrations in Life 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, on September 14, 1867. He was a son of Josephine Elizabeth (née Lovett) and Charles DeWolf Gibson.<ref name="DictionaryNotable-1904-p303">Template:Cite book</ref> He had five siblings <ref name=":0">Template:Cite book</ref> and was a descendant of U.S. Senators James DeWolf and William Bradford.<ref name="NPS-197912">Template:Cite newsTemplate:Dead link</ref>

A talented youth with an early interest in art, Gibson was enrolled by his parents in New York City's Art Students League, where he studied for two years.<ref name="CDGObit1944"/>

Career

File:Gibson Girl.png
Gibson Girl, created 1898
File:Their First Quarrel, Gibson.jpg
Their First Quarrel, 1914

Peddling his pen-and-ink sketches, Gibson sold his first work in 1886 to Life 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, Scribner's and Collier's. His illustrated books include the 1898 editions of Anthony Hope's The Prisoner of Zenda and its sequel Rupert of Hentzau as well as Richard Harding Davis' Gallegher and Other Stories.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

It is an oft-repeated urban legend that Gibson's wife and her elegant Langhorne sisters inspired his famous Gibson Girls, who became iconic images in early 20th-century society. The truth is that the first Gibson Girl appeared in 1890, more than two years before Gibson ever met the Langhorne family, and in later years it became fashionable for many of Gibson's friends and family to model for his illustrations.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> 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.<ref>"Charles Dana Gibson and his wife at their Islesboro, Maine, home", mainememory.net; accessed September 2, 2017.</ref><ref>"Mrs. Gibson, the original Gibson girl", Maine Memory Network; accessed September 2, 2017.</ref>

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, Gibson took to working in oils for his own pleasure. In 1918, he was elected into the National Academy of Design as an Associate member,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and became a full Academician in 1932.<ref>"National Academicians – Past Academicians Template:Webarchive". National Academy. nationalacademy.org; retrieved March 19, 2017.</ref>

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."<ref name="1944Celebrations">Template:Cite news</ref> Template:Clear left

Personal life

File:C.D. Gibson & wife LCCN2014717834 (cropped).jpg
Gibson and his wife, Irene Langhorne, c. 1925

On November 7, 1895, Gibson was married to Irene Langhorne (1873–1956), a daughter of railroad industrialist Chiswell Langhorne.<ref name="MrsGibson1956"/> Irene was born in Danville, Virginia, and was one of five sisters, all noted for their beauty, including Nancy Astor, Viscountess Astor,<ref name="1926Maine">Template:Cite news</ref> the first woman to serve as a Member of Parliament (MP) in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom.<ref>Langhorne House, 117 Broad Street, Danville, Va., virginia.org Template:Webarchive</ref> Irene and Charles were the parents of two children:<ref name=":0" />

  • Irene Langhorne Gibson (1897–1973),<ref name="MrsJJEObit1973">Template:Cite news</ref> who married George Browne Post III (1890–1952), a grandson of architect George B. Post, in 1916.<ref name="1926Desertion">Template:Cite news</ref> They divorced and she married real estate developer John Josiah Emery (1898–1976) in 1926.
  • Langhorne Gibson (1899–1982),<ref name="LGObit1982">Template:Cite news</ref> who married Marion Taylor (1902–1960) in 1922.<ref name="1922Engagement">Template:Cite news</ref> He later married Parthenia Burke Ross (1911–1998) in 1936.<ref name="1936Wedding">Template:Cite news</ref>

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 best known for its unprecedented number of prominent American illustrators.<ref>Progressive Architecture – Volume 3, 1922, google.com; accessed September 2, 2017.</ref> 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 there through the years.<ref>Charles Dana Gibson at his Islesboro home, vintagemaineimages.com Template:Webarchive</ref>

Gibson died of a heart ailment in 1944, aged 77, at 127 East 73rd Street, his home in the Upper East Side neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City.<ref name="CDGObit1944">Template:Cite news</ref> After a private funeral service at the Gibson home in New York, he was interred at Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Massachusetts.<ref name="1944Rites">Template:Cite news</ref> His widow died at her home in Greenwood, Virginia in April 1956 at the age of 83.<ref name="MrsGibson1956">Template:Cite news</ref>

Work

See also

Citations

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General and cited sources

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