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Arresting and
gorgeous, icons of feminine beauty from America's "golden
age of illustration" (1880–1920s) dazzled viewers with
an intensity, vividness and variety that still captivate us today.
The creation in the 1890s of the "Gibson Girl" by Charles
Dana Gibson set a standard for feminine beauty that endured for
twenty years and began a decades-long fascination with idealized
types of feminine beauty in America. American Beauties
features early twentieth-century drawings of women selected from
outstanding recent acquisitions and graphic art in the Library's
Cabinet of American Illustration and the Swann Collection
of Caricature and Cartoon.
All objects in
this exhibition, unless otherwise noted, are preserved in the
Prints and Photographs
Division. This exhibition was prepared with support from the
Caroline and Erwin Swann Memorial Fund for Caricature and Cartoon
and was originally presented in the Swann Gallery of Caricature
and Cartoon at the Library of Congress, June 27-September 28,
2002.
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Wladyslaw T. Benda (1873–1948)
Girl with earrings, ca.1924
Watercolor, charcoal, graphite, and
brush and ink on paper
Published as cover of Hearst's International Magazine, ca. 1924
Prints & Photographs Division
(2)
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