In January another exhibition of his work was held in Boston, this time at the Women’s City Club.

Two other exhibitions of Gibran’s works were held: one at the Knoedler Galleries, New York; the other at the Doll and Richards Galleries, Boston.

In December an exhibition of his paintings and drawings was held at the Montross Galleries, New York.

Gibran began to earn his living through portrait painting.

Through the generosity of Mary Haskell, who was determined to help Gibran fulfill his ambition to become a great artist and thinker, he went to Paris, visiting London on the way, to study art at the Académie Julien and at the Écoles des Beaux-Arts. During his stay in Paris, he came into contact with European literature, and read the works of contemporary English and French writers. He also became especially interested in the work of William Blake, who greatly influenced his thought and art; and for a while fell under the spell of Friedrich Nietzsche’s Thus Spoke Zarathustra; but Nietzsche’s influence, unlike that of Blake, was short-lived.

By now, Gibran was beginning to attract attention as an artist. Fred Holland Day, a well-known photographer, became Gibran’s first patron, holding at his studio in January an exhibition of the poet’s paintings and drawings.
In February, a second exhibition was held at the Cambridge school, a private educational institution owned and operated by Mary Haskell, who became Gibran’s close friend, patroness and benefactress.
At the Cambridge School he also met a beautiful and impulsive young woman of French origin, Emilie Michel, who was known to all her acquaintances as Micheline and with whom, it is said, Gibran fell in love.

Gibran returned to Lebanon, where he began a course of intensive study at al-Hikmah School. He studied a wide variety of subjects beyond those prescribed in the curriculum, and immersed himself in Arabic literature, ancient and modern. He also familiarized himself with contemporary literary movements in the Arab world.