G.C. Goodwin, The Salt Lake City Tribune, from the American Editors series (N35) for Allen & Ginter Cigarettes 1887

Curator: This curious little artwork is titled "G.C. Goodwin, The Salt Lake City Tribune," hailing from the "American Editors" series by Allen & Ginter Cigarettes, dating back to 1887. Editor: What a strange juxtaposition! The formality of a newspaper editor's portrait stuck right next to a, almost naive, watercolour landscape. The muted palette is strangely calming, though, like faded memory. Curator: The print relies on a certain duality. We see G.C. Goodwin in strict profile on the right. His serious gaze meets the implied gaze of the city depicted, complete with figures in the distant landscape, each enclosed by strong rectilinear forms. This can be read as a microcosm of the cultural and social constructs of late 19th century America. Editor: Cultural constructs in a cigarette card! I love it! It makes you think about how media was packaged and consumed. The man is presented, literally, alongside the land, a neat parcel. The soft, pastel wash, it belies any grit or hard edge I associate with a big city, with *progress*. It’s all gentle suggestion, like smoke. Curator: The piece is not without its contradictions. Goodwin’s assuredness clashes, subtly, with the tranquil and quaint rendition of the buildings. There is tension that cannot be ignored: The card series promotes authority alongside the romance of place, while pushing cigarettes... a heady mix! Editor: Heady indeed! You see that quaint rendering, and you’re like, "Oh, small town America." Then you recall it’s an advertisement, you get this pang – a touch of melancholy or irony perhaps – and all from this fragile paper promoting things intended to quickly be consumed. Curator: The beauty of this particular work is its capacity to be at once historical artifact and resonant commentary. Allen and Ginter’s "American Editors" offers a study of portraiture set alongside emerging cityscapes that, with some semiotic prodding, exposes more than simple commerce or promotion. Editor: Exactly! You see, I first took it as quaint, but now, it’s speaking about lost innocence, how landscapes and figures are presented, arranged, framed to sell not just product, but an idea. Gosh, what seems, at first glance, innocuous truly packs a punch.