Fisherman, from the Occupations of Women series (N502) for Frishmuth's Tobacco Company 1889

This 'Fisherman' is from a series called Occupations of Women, printed by the Frishmuth's Tobacco Company. The print is chromolithography, a technique that allows for mass production of images with a wide range of colors. At the time, chromolithography prints were often used for advertising and other commercial purposes, a relatively inexpensive process that made images accessible to a wide audience. The medium is smooth, flat, and lacks the texture and depth that might be found in a painting or sculpture. The focus here isn't on artistic expression or fine art, but on commerce, and the way images can be deployed in marketing. The subject itself - an idealized woman - is being used to market a completely unrelated commodity, tobacco. In doing so, it reduces women to a caricature. Through the lens of mass production, the image underscores the tensions between labor, gender, and consumer culture.