Helgoland, from the Fancy Bathers series (N187) issued by Wm. S. Kimball & Co. 1889

Editor: This is "Helgoland," from the "Fancy Bathers" series, a coloured pencil drawing from 1889 by William S. Kimball & Company. The texture is really interesting for such a small print - you can almost feel the paper. What catches your eye about this work? Curator: I'm interested in the industrial context. This isn’t “fine art,” but a mass-produced collectible, distributed with tobacco products. What does that tell us about the perceived value of art and entertainment at the time, and the role of companies like Kimball in shaping visual culture? Editor: So it's like art as marketing? Was it considered low-brow? Curator: Precisely! These cards democratized imagery, taking it out of galleries and putting it in the hands of ordinary consumers. Consider the materials: cheap card stock, mass-produced coloured ink. How did that affect the accessibility of art? Editor: It's quite different from an oil painting destined for a gallery! Curator: Absolutely. And the subject matter, a fashionable bather, caters to popular tastes. Who was the labor behind these cards, do you think? What conditions might they have worked in? Editor: I hadn't considered the production line itself. I guess it makes me rethink what “art” even means when it’s tied to industry. Curator: Indeed. We have to challenge those boundaries. Look at the materials and processes of even "high art", and ask what material conditions shaped its making. How were the boundaries between high art and the ephemera of the masses actually formed? Editor: It’s made me realize that everything has a story from how it’s physically produced, that gives meaning to the end result. Curator: Precisely! Thinking about how it's made can reveal so much.