As advertisers and art editors turned to various styles of female imagery to define their look, the "Pretty Girl" artists themselves also carved out stylistic niches that would guarantee them a steady stream of commissions and royalties. Following the remarkable success of Charles Dana Gibson's stylishly rendered "Gibson Girl," marketed in magazines, books, prints, wallpaper, and even silverware, a number of illustrators began to turn their talents to the portrayal of American beauty. Each of these artists developed a highly recognizable style suitable for a variety of merchandise. Fisher created his colorfully drawn upper-class women to be used on not only a myriad of magazine covers, but art prints and postcards as well. Wladyslaw Benda's almond-eyed "Benda Girl," with her soft gauzy look of layered charcoal, watercolor and pastels, was seen in covers, advertisements, and story illustrations. John Held disseminated his flappers more widely any model since the Gibson Girl; they were printed in books, magazines, and ads, and used on cocktail glasses, card games, puzzles and more.

All of these illustrators (and many more) became famous by creating a recognizable brand that served them well for many years. But fashion is nothing if not fickle; the concept of beauty soon evolved, and these images became outdated. Thus we see the pen-and-ink drawings of the confident Gibson Girl being replaced by Fisher's brightly colored "American Girls" or Phillips's fadeaways. These in turn give way to Held's stick-figure flappers, which then fall out of favor by the 1930s. But although the ideal of beauty has proven fleeting, the allure of a pretty face is timeless, and marketers will continue to sell feminine beauty as long as the American public is buying.

Illustration (above): Wladyslaw T. Benda (1873-1948) 
Head of girl with long blonde hair, ca. 1923 
Watercolor, charcoal, and colored pencil on paper 
Published as cover of 
Hearst's International Magazine, April 1923 

Items are preserved in the Cabinet of American Illustration, Prints and Photographs Division of the Library of Congress.

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