100 Years of Illustration

Gib Darling update

I just received this very welcome email from Gib Darling's granddaughter, Sally:

Hello Paul
Here is a little information on Gib.
His full name was Henry Gilbert Darling
Born Feb. 5, 1901 in Wellington, New Zealand
Gib grew up in Redlands, Ca.
He died in Toms River New Jersey on July 2, 1990
Art Education: California School of Fine Arts, San Francisco, Ca.
Employed by Patterson & Sullivan( later named Patterson & Hall) in San Francisco until 1939, then free lanced in New York City
until the late 1950's. Gib ended his career at the Bates agency in New York City in 1984 at the age of 83.
He was Vice President of the Society of Illustrators in 1953 & 1954.
He was always known as Gib and never "Gil"

I've made the necessary revisions and add this link to his work which appeared a couple of months ago in April.

More of Gib Darling's Darlings

There's not a lot to say about these beyond the obvious. They reflect the type of fiction that Collier's ran and Hollywood movies were about. Gib Darling could draw and his heroines were cute, but the editors seem to have been hung up on stereotypes. Click on images to enlarge them.

Gib Darling's sleek beauties

Henry Gilbert Darling was born Feb. 5, 1901 in Wellington, New Zealand and
grew up in Redlands, California. He studied at the California School of Fine Arts, San Francisco, later worked at
Patterson & Sullivan( later named Patterson & Hall) in San Francisco until 1939, then free-lanced in New York City until the late 1950s. He ended his career at the Bates advertising agency in New York at the age of 83. He was vice president of the Society of Illustrators in 1953 and 1954.

He died in Toms River New Jersey on July 2, 1990

Collier's was a very popular weekly, particularly in the mid-twentieth century, with its own stable of freelance illustrators. They were as different in their styles and approach to illustration as was Collier's and the Saturday Evening Post and Gil Darling from Norman Rockwell. Click on these images to enlarge them.

Close-up. I don't think Saturday Evening Post readers would tolerate this type of sexy image. From Collier's issue of 3 January 1953.

Notice how the young women look so much alike. He must have used only one model. Rockwell would have been more thorough.