Brisbane to Bessie Gibson meant her family and her art training. the Gibson family was highly respected and like other Queensland families of Scottish origin, the Gibsons maintained close ties with Scotland and some of the children were sent to Endinburgh for their later education. It was in this tradition of maintaining contact with "home" that Bessie's father, James Gibson, took his family abroad in 1901 -02. It must also have been as a result of this tradition that she returned to Europe for further study in 1905. Throughout this stay which lasted until 1947, Bessie Gibson maintained close ties with her Scottish relatives and friends.

Gibson's immediate family consisted of two brothers, John and Archibald, and three sisters, Grace who died young, Annie and Lillie. Lillie also studied painting in Brisbane. It is an indication of the family's open - mindedness that two of their girls were allowed to study painting with one deciding on making it her career. At that time Brisbane was a town where such things were not only rarely done, but could be misconstrued.

All through her life, the family was proud and supportive of both her painting and her self-sufficiency. In 1905, the family gave Gibson a return ticket abroad and agreed to support her for a period of three years. This three year stay she managed to extend to thirty eight years.

Gibson had studied painting in Brisbane although the dates and exact study programme are elusive. The 1903 Annual Exhibition of the Queensland Art Society is her first known exhibition. She studied under Godfrey Rivers at the Central Technical College, Brisbane. He was English, had studied under Legros at the Slade School of Art, London, and had exhibited once at the Royal Academy before his arrival in Brisbane in 1889. In 1910 Rivers became head of the art teaching at the college keeping the position until 1915. During this time he also taught Vida Lahey, Anne Alison Greene, and Lloyd Rees.

The artist sailed abroad for her "three years study" in September 1905 aboard the S.S. Macedonia. She first visited Edinburgh, but was settled in Paris by May 7th, 1906.She was to live in Montparnasse for the duration of stay in Paris, her only move being from 27 Avenua du Maine (1906 - 1910) to 8 bis rue Campagne - Premier (1910 - 1939). By the time of her arrival Montparnasse had already become the artist's colony for which it was famous and its inexpensive lodgings made it ideal for foreign artists which included Australians Rupert Bunny, Bessie Davidson, Ethel Carrick and her husband Emanual Phillips Fox. During her long stay other Australians would also live at one time or another within a mile of Bessie Gibson including Will Ashton, Agnes Goodsir, Anne Alison Greene, Max Meldrum, Vida Lahey, and Roy de Maistre. During the Second World War she lived in England staying with friends in Hertfordshire, although she produced very little during this period.

The most important artistic influences on Gibson were assimilaited by her at the studios of Colarossi and Castelucho before they merged, but it is unknown just when or for how long she studied at either place. Colarossi's, 10 rue de la Grand - Chaumiere, was very popular with english speaking students and whilst it is not possible that Gibson was there prior to 1905, she is known to have studied there while the New Zealand painter Frances Hodgkins taught there. 1910 seems to have been the likely year. Gibson may also have studied in Hodgkinson's sketching class held during the summer of 1910 in Brittany and further in her studio at 21 Avenue du Maine in 1911.

Like many artist's work at this time Whistler's style would influence Gibson. The pictures that were inspirational for Gibson were of three types - the little pochades of landscapes on wooden panels, the portraits and indirectly, the watercolours. All Whistler's best works display a tension between gentle, mini keyed tonality and a stark geometric composition which is spelt out along the left margin and echoed in the placement of boats, masts, steeples, people or whatever components he chose. His pictures also reject a "sculptural" approach to paint and instead explore and exploit flat surfaces of paint. When compared, Gibson certainly holds her own. Her work is in fact closer to the American Edwin Scott whom she listed as being a teacher in the Salon catalogues. Watercolour was her natural medium though, and she was very much influenced by Frances Hodgkins style. In it she has an assuredness of colour and technique that is striking and the artist seemed willing to set herself more difficult compositions than in some of her other works. She seems to have always held a distinction in style and subject matter between the Whistler via Castelucho or Scott influenced oils on panel of Honfleur, Venice, Place de la Concorde and the Luxembourg Gardens, and the gentle watercolours of reflections and interiors influenced by Frances Hodgkins.

Dating works by Gibson is quite problematic. There is little evidence as to when and where she travelled other than that she made fairly regular trips to England and probably the French coast. She visited Italy in the company of a friend in 1907 but its likely that she must have done the Venietian pictures afterwards. The only other date we have is that a group of Honfleur and Cherbourg panels were exhibited in 1924. Few pictures are dated, signatures added very late, or titles invented and changed.

Once Bessie Gibson had finally left England, returned to France to find her studio completely intact, packed it and returned to Brisbane in 1947, she was 79 years old. Although she had ceased to paint she exhibited regularly and received support and encouragement from Robert Haines, Director of the Queensland Art Gallery, and her other good friend James Wieneke, himself a watercolourist. Since her death in July 1961 interest in Gibsons work and recognition of her achievements has risen steadily. In 1978 The University of Queensland Art Museum curated an important retrospective exhibition of her work which toured nationally.

Reproduced with thanks from "Bessie Gibson" exhibition catalogue, the University Art Museum, Nancy Underhill, 1978.