These were the years of apprenticeship and study. The young man’s art class was his own studio. His course of study was determined by the business needs of those who employed him. His chief instructor was himself. The years went quickly by. A trip to the Adirondacks in 1875, another to Philadelphia to sketch the Centennial Exhibition of 1876 were the chief incidents of the next two years. The Philadelphia enterprise was under the patronage of Harper Brothers. For at last he had secured the approval he had coveted so much, and was able to win his way into the publications of this house on his own merits. From time to time he had shown his work to Mr. Parsons, who admitted his progress and acknowledged his growing promise. At last he received an order to illustrate an article in conjunction with his friend Beard. Other work followed, and he was a recognized contributor to the Harpers’ publications.
But the work which probably made his “calling and election sure” was his masterly illustration of an article written by Mrs. Helen S. Conant, entitled “Birds and Plumage.” Gibson had suggested the article, furnishing the idea and proposing as a title “The Plumage of Fashion.” He did not secure the commission to write the text: his abilities as a writer had not been demonstrated, and he himself was diffident about them. But he received the order for sixteen illustrations, into which we may well believe he threw his whole strength. The initial design attracted marked attention and drew out unstinted praise. It was a full-page picture of a peacock’s feather. It gave the article instant success. The press was enthusiastic in commending it. The August number of “Harper’s Magazine” for 1878 may be said to have marked a new epoch in American illustration; and young Gibson’s work led all the rest. The reserved and refrigerated criticism of the “Nation” was relaxed almost to the point of enthusiasm: “The remarkable series of birds drawn on the block by Mr. William H. Gibson is more obviously than the imitations just mentioned the result of the engraver’s skill and unwearied patience. The cut of the peacock feather, for instance, which introduces the paper on ‘Birds and Plumage,’ must impress even the uninitiated with its rare and costly character, whether regarded as a design or as an engraving. Mr. Gibson has evidently studied his subjects with great care and succeeded in portraying them, both in action and in repose, in a graceful and life-like manner, with instructive accessories.” The “Christian Union,” always careful and conservative, said: “Upon this article, which has been a long time in preparation, the publishers have, it is understood, laid out an unprecedentedly large sum of money. Certainly Mr. Gibson’s graceful pencil has given them the worth of it. No better work, it is safe to say, has ever appeared in the pages of the magazine.”
But best and most conclusive of all the words of praise which this drawing elicited, were those of Mr. Charles Eliot Norton, in a personal letter to the young artist:
“Cambridge, Nov. 8, 1878.
“Dear Sir: I am much obliged to you for your note, for it gives me an opportunity which I have desired, to express to you my admiration of the skill and beauty of the design of the peacock’s feather, so excellently cut on wood by Mr. King. It is not merely subtle and refined execution which is shown in the piece, but a poetic feeling for the quality and charm of the feather itself and for its value in composition. Your feather ought to be as well known as Rembrandt’s shell or Hollar’s furs. For you and Mr. King in your joint work have succeeded in suggesting the splendor, the play, the concentration of color, the bewildering multiplicity of interlacing curves, the elastic spring and vitality of every fiber, and have given the immortality of art to one of the purely decorative productions of nature. I shall look for your new work with great interest.
“I am very desirous to see a proof of your feathers on soft India paper. If I can find some proper paper here I shall be tempted to send it to you. But paper suitable for such work is not easily found.”
All this was said of the youth who six years before had been pronounced without even the promise of ability! Surely he had a right to be proud of his triumph. He had fairly won his spurs. Henceforth there was no doubt of his standing as one of the first of American illustrators.
”The Peacock’s Feather” (“The Peerless Plume”)
(“Highways and Byways”)
Copyright, 1882, by Harper & Brothers