I had a debate with myself about featuring Charles Dana Gibson. He's certainly a great artist, and a famous one to boot, but when I started this art-sharing journey, I swore that I wasn't going to tread too many well-worn paths. That's why you won't see any Klimt or Mucha, in spite of my deep love of their work.
Gibson is very well known, primarily for his iconic "Gibson girl"; one of the first recognisably modern (for better or worse) depictions of the new woman...free (ish)-thinking, independent, "strong" and all that other nonsensical jibber-jabber. I love his images of women, but after 46 years of listening to that sort of association, I was pretty worn out on him.
Well, I changed my mind. Gibson was much more than a tool of modern feminist propaganda. He was a sharp displayer of the truth of his time, and his images of all people, not just women, were deeply insightful. The turn of the 19th to the 20th century is oft-ignored in our culture, and the humanity of those people has been degraded by modern social bias into an era of ignorant, near-inhuman villains. When I joke about getting a time machine off Ebay and traveling to 1901, some far-left acquaintance usually feels compelled to spout some perceived evil of the time...as if our own is just jolly.
Rants aside [ahem], Gibson showed us that people are simply just people. Whether then or now, people do the best with the silly and often frustrating world that they live in; that's why I decided to share these great images.
Gibson is very well known, primarily for his iconic "Gibson girl"; one of the first recognisably modern (for better or worse) depictions of the new woman...free (ish)-thinking, independent, "strong" and all that other nonsensical jibber-jabber. I love his images of women, but after 46 years of listening to that sort of association, I was pretty worn out on him.
Well, I changed my mind. Gibson was much more than a tool of modern feminist propaganda. He was a sharp displayer of the truth of his time, and his images of all people, not just women, were deeply insightful. The turn of the 19th to the 20th century is oft-ignored in our culture, and the humanity of those people has been degraded by modern social bias into an era of ignorant, near-inhuman villains. When I joke about getting a time machine off Ebay and traveling to 1901, some far-left acquaintance usually feels compelled to spout some perceived evil of the time...as if our own is just jolly.
Rants aside [ahem], Gibson showed us that people are simply just people. Whether then or now, people do the best with the silly and often frustrating world that they live in; that's why I decided to share these great images.
(click image to enlarge, then use the arrow keys ← → to change images )
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