|
|
SOPHISTICATED LADY: THE GIBSON GIRL BREATHED NEW LIFE INTO AMERICAN CULTURE |
Charles Dana Gibson's Life illustration "The Vanishing Sex" sold for $2,900. Photo courtesy of Illustration House
There was a time when magazines shaped American culture the way television does now. A time when a trip to the newsstand promised a look at America’s leading illustrators, artists, painters and cartoonists.
Out of the pages of an 1890 Life magazine stepped one of the key role models of the era, the Gibson Girl. Beyond a pretty face, this confident daydreamer embodied all the longing and angst of a booming turn-of-the-century America.
She mirrored a wealth that was long on cash but short on tradition.
Lacking the bloodlines their European counterparts possessed created a definite upset among the nouveau riche.
The Gibson Girl somehow made it all right.
When golf came on the scene in the 1890s, the Gibson Girl played. She rode bicycles, wore short skirts, understood politics and basically stepped out of the ball and chains of Victorian hypocrisy.
It was Charles Dana Gibson’s pen that breathed life into the Gibson Girl and his own rags-to-riches story ironically paralleled his notorious lady.
From 1890 through the 1920s, Gibson played the role of social historian sketching drawings that recorded the ways and means of American life in a sometimes sarcastic and always penetrating way.
At age 65, Charles Dana Gibson surrendered to his real passion and painted in oils for the last 15 years of his life. He died in 1944.
On Feb. 19 and 20, 1998, Illustration House, Inc., New York, presented their third “Back Porch” auction. The sale offered 200 lots of original illustration art, with an emphasis on low to mid-range items by some of the foremost talents from 100-years of American illustration history. The sale totaled $110,000.
“The ‘Back Porch’ auction is a good place to begin a collection of American illustration art,” said assistant director, Frederic Taraba. “You can buy pictures you respond to without going deep into debt.”
A pen-and-ink illustration by Charles Dana Gibson entitled “The Vanishing Sex” which appeared in the May 8, 1924, issue of Life Magazine sold for $2,900.
The illustration pictured a provocative woman leaning over a table with a small man kneeling in her hand. The drawing was actually one-half of an original illustration. The first illustration pictured another woman on the other side of the table, and was probably split in half by Gibson himself.
Gibson’s illustrations typically sell for $1,500-$10,000. He is known for his good-looking women, especially the Gibson Girl.
“People particularly like that assertive look and quality of the Gibson Girls,” said Taraba. “It shows that beauty has no season. Some of the Gibson illustrations are pushing 100-years-old, but it doesn’t lessen the fascination.”
Gibson’s artistic flair impacted a generation of illustrators that followed him. He managed to convey with a few lines some complex elements like distant fog, subtle moods, and moving water.
“A typical Gibson collector tends to be sophisticated,” said Taraba. “They appreciate good draftsmanship with a witty edge.”
Q. I have an ironstone teapot made by Wood and Sons, England. Can you give me additional information about this company? Margaret Marks, Leominster, Mass.
A. The company you’re referring to is Wood & Sons Ltd., Burslem (1913-1920). These British potters were well known for their ceramic wares. One of their most popular teapots was a black cat. The paw formed the spout, the tail was the handle, and the head came off for pouring.
Unlike art pottery that was created for beauty rather than utility, the Wood & Sons ceramic line you’re referring to, was designed for everyday use.
Ceramic designer, Charlotte Rhead went to work for Wood & Sons in 1913. Her father Frederick was art director for the company and they started an artware division. In 1920, a separate company was formed, Bursley, Ltd., at the Crown Pottery.
Charlotte Rhead moved on to Crown Pottery while her father concentrated on tablewares.
|
|
View Free Articles |
|
|
|
