Charles Dana Gibson was born in Roxbury, Massachusetts in 1867. A talented artist, Gibson sold his first drawing to Life Magazine when he was only 19. His early influences include How ard Pyle, Charles Keene and Phil May.
After studying at the Arts Students League in New York his illustrations were published in Harper's Weekly. and Scribner's Magazine. Gibson eventually obtained a full-time post with Life Magazine, where he became famous for his drawings of American high society. The young women in his drawings became known as Gibson Girls, young women typifying the fashionable ideal of around 1900
Gibson eventually became the owner and editor of Life Magazine. Charles Dana Gibson died in 1944.