THE LIFE & LEGACY OF ARTIST ERIC GIBBERD (1897-1972)
By Artist Victoria Chick
Born in London, England, Eric Gibberd was plagued by vision problems as a child. By the time he was ten, his eyesight was beginning to fail. His parents consulted many European specialists, finally following the advice of Sir Anderson Critchett, oculist to the King of England. Records do not indicate the actual diagnosis, but whatever the condition, the Gibberd family left the sooty confines of London and moved to western Canada.
Education for young Eric was conducted orally, as he was not supposed to strain his eyes while reading. For seven years, he neither used books nor engaged in any activities requiring him to use his eyes for small detail.
Gibberd’s father died when Eric was 17, so he started work to support his mother and four younger sisters. For a person who grew up with a visual deficit, his adult life became an amazing story of careers requiring intense visual acuity.
Gibberd’s first job was as an advertising assistant for the Hudson Bay Company in Edmonton, Canada. Within twelve years, he had moved to California and become a leader in United States retail advertising.
He married in his forties to a woman devoted to the arts who recognized his visual talent. She urged him to study art. He initially learned painting from teachers in Los Angeles. Being financially able to travel, he also sought out teachers in Austria and Spain. His most influential teacher, however, was someone he never actually met: Paul Cézanne. Gibberd was so taken with Cézanne’s analytical approach that he later spent time in Aix-en-Provence and even had the opportunity to use Cézanne’s studio. Cézanne’s influence can be seen in Gibberd’s paintings and in his woodcuts.
Although there is a record of his painting in Taos, New Mexico, prior to 1940, he and his wife did not settle permanently in Taos until the mid-1950s. Gibberd was also influenced by Emil Bisttram, a European Modernist immigrant who founded the Taos Art School. Together, the Gibberds co-founded Gallery A, which was one of the first and the longest-operating galleries in Taos.
Victoria Chick is the founder of the Cow Trail Art Studio in southwest New Mexico, and is the visionary behind the Southwest Regional Museum of Art & Art Center in Silver City, New Mexico. She received a B.A. in Art from the University of Missouri at Kansas City and awarded an M.F.A. in Painting from Kent State University in Ohio. Visit her website at www.ArtistVictoriaChick.com
