The Gibson Girl and Her America

Charles Dana Gibson, I think, can be credited for single-handedly creating in our minds the ideal of Victorian womanhood in the Americas. His "Gibson Girl" was the pin-up of its day (if that's not too vulgar), stoic, immaculately dressed, and a formidible match for her man. I've enjoyed his work for a long time, and was happy to find thsi volume. In it, you will find a wealth of Gibson's "GIbson Girl"-related illustrations, as well as a selection of illustrations that are more satirical in nature, dealing with members of America's social classes around the turn of the century. What is most amazing - beside Gibson's excellent command of line and his beautiful, sensitive renderings - is his eye for irony. GIbson's illustrations - almost all of them accompanied by a witty caption - seems to have been something of a wit, and never failed to make a poignant pun on his subject. Some of his commentaries on the poor situations of the working class are actually quite scathing - unexpected from an illustrator I always associated with the "upper strata" of society. This book is not simply a gallery of work by a master - it is also an education. What keeps this book, for me, from receiving five stars, is that some of my favorite of his cartoons have not been included. I saw a similar volume published in the 1970s that had a selection of similar size, but different illustrations, and I wish tha that would be published as well. However, at any rate, this is excellent and well worth the money for any fan of illustration. Enjoy!

Awesome. I thought this would just be a few sketches of his ladies, but it's LOTS of his renderings of all kinds of different subjects. He's one of the most amazing talents I've ever seen.

The two leading American illustrators of women at the dividing point of the 19th and 20th centuries were Charles Dana Gibson and Harrison Fisher. I find that I have always liked Gibson much better than Fisher, because Fisher seems to lack a sense of humor while Gibson's work is informed by a sharp, dry, sometimes sardonic wit as he eyes the fads and follies of the high society of the 1890's and early 1900's (of which he himself was a part by virtue of his marriage to one of the Langhorne sisters). As the previous reviewer has mentioned, the highlight of this particular collection is the inclusion of the bulk of the drawings from his famous "The Education of Mr. Pipp", which combines Gibson's trademark humor with not one, but two, beautiful Gibson girls. (Considering that Gibson, earlier in his career, had issued vituperative denunciations of mercenary marital alliances between Eurotrash nobles and American women - most notably in his famous "America's Tribute" - it is particularly humorous that one of Mr. Pipp's daughters is snagged by a Scottish laird who is as clean-cut and upstanding as any American Gibson man!) As I mentioned in my review of Steven Warshaw's "The Gibson Girl", "The Gibson Girl and Her America" is best appreciated as part of a comprehensive collection including both aforementioned books plus Woody Gelman's "The Best of Charles Dana Gibson" and Fairfax Downey's 1936 biography (containing over 100 Gibson drawings) "Portrait of an Era as Drawn by C.D. Gibson". (Actually, the Gibson completist really needs to get - if he or she can find it! - the 1906/1907 2-volume behemoth "The Gibson Book", a compilation of 11 of the artist's volumes with a total of over 800 drawings.) Failing that, this book is a splendid introduction to the work of one of the true icons of America's popular culture.

This is a great book for anyone who likes the fashons of the late 1800's, Gibson girl, or just well drawn pictures! Gibson was a great artist, and you can tell from his captions he had a sense of humor. Every page in the book is filled with beautiful, clear, large sized drawings of Gibson Girl and her friends. I was delighted with my copy!! It even includes Gibson's "comic" book, "The Education of Mr. Pipp", and a brief but interesting biography of Mr. Gibson.