The Impact of Cedric Gibbons on Hollywood Set Design

Cedric Gibbons (1893-1960) was an American film set designer.  He was born in Dublin. 

Biography

Gibbons became a set dresser for films, assisting art director Hugo Ballin at Edison Studios, New York, in 1914. He soon accompanied Ballin to Hollywood, where Samuel Goldwyn hired him. Ballin resigned as art director to direct and produce, and Gibbons replaced him, assuming the novel title ‘supervising art director.’ Gibbons replaced painted backdrops with three-dimensional sets and was dubbed the person who put the glove on the mantelpiece.’ He managed a staff of talented unit art directors, not consistently recognised in screen credits, including Ben Carré, Merrill Pye, Richard Day, and Arnold Gillespie.

He signed a contract with MGM that gave him sole credit for every film the studio made in the USA. He controlled the studio’s wardrobe and set-dressing, Matte painting, special effects, and photography sections.

The 1925 Paris ‘Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industrials Modernes profoundly influenced his approach, as seen in sets for Our Dancing Daughters (1928) with its expansive Art Deco interiors. Other glamorous films popularising Art Déco followed, including Our Modern Maidens (1929) and Our Blushing Brides (1930), creating a craze for affectations that included Venetian blinds, dancing figurines, and indirect lighting in middle-class décors of the time. 

Sources

Byars, M., & Riley, T. (2004). The design encyclopedia. Laurence King Publishing. https://amzn.to/3ElmSlL

More on Interior Design

More design articles

• Suprematism Russian Abstract Art & Design Style
• Axonometric Drawing: A Comprehensive Exploration
• Paco Rabanne – The Dresses that were Welded
• French Art Deco – Fun Facts
• Art Deco Interiors: A Colorful Journey