Few images have shaped the American imagination of the Gilded Age quite like Making up his- by Charles Dana Gibson, the creator of the iconic "Gibson Girl." Though the exact date and medium of this work remain uncertain, its influence is unmistakable: Gibson’s illustrations were so popular that by the early 1900s, women across the United States styled themselves after his elegant, self-assured heroines. The title itself, left tantalizingly unfinished, hints at the playful ambiguity and wit that made Gibson’s drawings a staple of magazines such as Life and Harper’s Weekly. The incomplete phrase invites viewers to finish the thought themselves, a clever nod to the social games of courtship and gender roles that fascinated Gibson’s audience. At the heart of Making up his-, we find a moment of private calculation: a young man, pen in hand, hesitates over a letter, his expression caught between resolve and uncertainty.

The setting is domestic, the props minimal—a writing desk, scattered papers, perhaps a photograph tucked nearby—focusing all attention on the drama of indecision. Gibson’s trademark crisp lines and subtle humor are evident in the young man’s slightly exaggerated posture, suggesting both the gravity and the absurdity of romantic dilemmas. Unlike the more sentimental treatments of love letters by artists such as Jean-Honoré Fragonard, Gibson’s approach is modern and ironic, poking fun at the conventions of masculinity and emotional restraint. As with many of Gibson’s works, Making up his- was likely first published as an illustration in a popular periodical, reaching thousands of readers rather than hanging in a gallery.

Its physical fate is less documented than its cultural impact; original drawings by Charles Dana Gibson often circulated among private collectors or were reproduced in portfolios. This piece belongs to the artist’s most prolific period, when the "Gibson Man" and "Gibson Girl" became shorthand for a new American style. Today, works like this are prized by collectors of American illustration and are sometimes exhibited in museums dedicated to graphic art, though the whereabouts of this particular drawing remain uncertain.