Life — January 29, 1914 — page 17: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This is an illustration by C.D. Gibson titled "Popular Illustrators at Work." The cartoon depicts several gentlemen in top hats engaged in artistic pursuits outdoors. One sketches at an easel while others observe or work nearby. A woman in a polka-dot dress also participates in the scene. The satire appears to mock the pretensions of Gilded Age illustrators and artists—showing them dressed formally in top hats even while working in a pastoral setting, suggesting the affectation and self-importance of the artistic class. Gibson, himself a celebrated illustrator famous for depicting high society, likely intended this as gentle self-mockery of his profession's pomposity. The juxtaposition of refined formal dress with outdoor creative labor creates the humorous effect.