Ceres, Goddess of Agriculture, from the Goddesses of the Greeks and Romans series (N188) issued by Wm. S. Kimball & Co. 1889

Editor: Here we have "Ceres, Goddess of Agriculture," a print from 1889 by William S. Kimball & Company. It reminds me a bit of an advertisement; it's so clean and the colors are so carefully chosen. How would you approach this piece? Curator: Considering this print through a materialist lens, it becomes intriguing. Produced by Wm. S. Kimball & Co., primarily a tobacco company, the image served as a trade card inserted into cigarette packs. It makes me wonder about the mass production techniques, the specific inks and papers used, and how those materials contributed to its function as a marketing tool. Editor: So you're saying that even the physical materials had a specific purpose, to get people to buy cigarettes? Curator: Precisely! And we should consider the workers who produced these cards. What were their labor conditions like? How did the manufacturing process affect the environment? It invites questions about consumption, waste, and the industrialization of art and image production. It asks if it even _is_ art. Editor: I hadn't considered it that way, it is very interesting to me how these materials contribute to something far greater than the image they hold. Thinking about the resources that had to go into such small things that people could just throw away is, frankly, a little frightening. Curator: Yes, it shifts the focus from the idealized image of Ceres to the socio-economic context of its creation. I am delighted that my view helped you to have such realizations.