Barbed Loach, from the series Fishers and Fish (N74) for Duke brand cigarettes 1888

Curator: And here we have a rather curious piece, "Barbed Loach, from the series Fishers and Fish," created around 1888 by Knapp & Company. It's a lithograph, initially a promotional card for Duke brand cigarettes. Editor: My goodness, look at this. It feels like stepping into a dream – slightly unsettling but delightful. The proportions are so exaggerated, and yet, there's an undeniable charm to this big-headed fisherwoman and her very real-looking fish. Curator: Indeed! The tension between the caricature and realism is key here. Knapp & Company employed the popular Ukiyo-e style, seen in the delicate lines and flat planes of color, quite innovative for advertising at the time. These were trade cards; mass-produced images meant to slip into cigarette packs to entice customers. Editor: Fascinating how such a delicate print found its way into such a consumable product. Makes you wonder about the skill and labor that went into something designed to be tossed away, though the integration of this image alongside Duke cigarettes makes one aware of the growing market economies. Did they recognize they were participating in this global fishing of desire, baiting consumers with an idealized version of leisure? Curator: Certainly, the image evokes leisure and aspiration, far removed from the realities of late 19th-century labor. She embodies the “Gibson Girl” aesthetic, albeit with this strange, captivating distortion. I'm drawn to the way she’s seemingly suspended in this soft, ethereal landscape. She becomes one with nature through the lithographer's dreamy execution of idyllic genre-painting. Editor: The whole thing speaks to a tension in industrialized society; on one hand a shift toward image and spectacle alongside the extraction and manufacturing processes required to keep production going. On the other, there’s this celebration of skill inherent in printmaking and an understanding of distribution that's incredibly forward-thinking for its time. It really compels you to question the supposed separation between "high art" and commercial artistry. Curator: Yes, and on a final, whimsical note, she almost looks as though she might share a silent, knowing wink before vanishing back into that very idyllic background that summoned her. Editor: Exactly; considering how ephemeral such pieces often are, its remarkable how its visual power transcends those limitations. I'm definitely reeling some profound appreciation out of this one!