A Classic Player: Charles Dana Gibson, 1867–1944
By KATHARINE RAMSDEN
A man of both talent and taste, Player Charles Dana Gibson was a successful American illustrator best known for creating the Gibson Girl, a popular image of American women at the turn of the 20th century, and the ostensible inspiration for a classic bar drink. Born in Roxbury, Massachusetts, he showed an early interest and talent in art and was enrolled by his parents in the Art Students League in New York. Gibson sold his first work in 1886 to Life magazine, a magazine of light humor, general interest features, and cartoons. Not to be confused with the photography-focused Life launched by Henry Luce in the 1930s, this publication was known for its illustrations by Gibson and Norman Rockwell, among others. Gibson became a Player in 1891, and Rockwell some years later.
Gibson's national reputation as an illustrator grew quickly, as his work appeared regularly in the weekly magazine for decades. After its owner's death,Gibson became editor-in-chief and owner of Life. His drawings also appeared regularly in New York-based publications, including Collier's, Harper's Weekly, and Scribner's.
While it has been claimed that Gibson’s wife Irene Langhorne and her sisters inspired the Gibson Girls, the debut of these illustrations reportedly predated his meeting the family. The Langhorne sisters were renowned for their beauty, however, and Gibson used friends and family as models for his ensuing work. Irene's sister Nancy, Viscountess Astor, would also gain her own distinction as the first woman seated as a Member of Parliament in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom.
The Gibsons lived in New Rochelle, New York, for a time in an art colony among actors, writers, and artists of the period. They also owned an island off the coast of Maine, and spent a significant amount of time living there in later life.
The potent potable Gibson has long been associated with our Gramercy Park clubhouse. While the exact origin of the Gibson cocktail has numerous theories about its genesis, a popular claim is that it was invented at The Players.
Supposedly, Charles Dana Gibson challenged Charley Connolly, the bartender of The Players at the time, to improve upon a standard martini. As the story goes, Connolly simply substituted an onion for the olive and named the drink after Gibson.
By the end of World War I, the Gibson Girl illustrations were passing out of fashion. Gibson took to working in oils, building upon his fame as an illustrator with his painting. In 1918, he was elected into the National Academy of Design as an associate member, becoming a full member in 1932.
Gibson retired in 1936, and by the time of his death at home on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in 1944, was among the most celebrated pen-and-ink artists of his time. He was buried at Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the final resting place of The Players founder Edwin Booth.
Katharine Ramsden is a semi-retired writer and editor who lives around the corner from the club with her terrier Sam. She has never tried a Gibson (or a Martini, for that matter).
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