Abstract Painting of a Woman's Face by Sybil Gibson

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Sybil Gibson (1908 - 1995) was a self taught American painter. She was born to wealthy parents, her father was … Read more Sybil Gibson (1908 - 1995) was a self taught American painter. She was born to wealthy parents, her father was a coal mine owner and was one of eight children. She started making art at age 55, on Thanksgiving day, 1963, when she decided to transform brown paper bags into decorated Christmas wrapping paper. She washed the glue from paper bags and applied them to her favorite surfaces, thus creating a ground upon which to paint her delicate, almost dreamlike figures. "Good art turns me off, while something out of a trash pile turns me on," was one of her typical humble comments about her work. She died in Florida in 1995.

Howell Raines wrote in June 1971 that "the paintings are not over-powering, they are truly fragile in the best sense. The colors are very delicate, and while Sybil Gibson's work is figurative, her realism is tempered with a certain dream-like quality." Gibson chose to paint limited subject matter - mainly concentrating on the human form, particularly faces, as well as flowers, birds and small animals. Her style is considered 'folk art', and she is regarded as an outsider or naïve artist.

In May 1971, shortly before the opening of her first art exhibition, at the Miami Museum of Modern Art, Gibson disappeared, leaving drawings strewn about her yard. An eccentric woman, Gibson disappeared several times. Around 300 of her paintings are believed to exist in museums and private collections, although many more have been destroyed after being strewn around outside her home when she disappeared.

Gibson's work has been exhibited in more than fifty one-woman exhibitions. Her work is featured in various public museum collections including at the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, the Museum of American Folk Art, the Birmingham Museum of Art, and the New Orleans Museum of Art. See less