Paul Boynton, Champion Deep Sea Swimmer, from the Champions of Games and Sports series (N184, Type 2) issued by W.S. Kimball & Co. 1887

Curator: Let's examine this lithograph print created around 1887 by W.S. Kimball & Co., titled "Paul Boynton, Champion Deep Sea Swimmer," part of their Champions of Games and Sports series. Editor: My immediate impression is that there is a strangeness of juxtaposition: an official-looking portrait hovering above this…almost comical image of someone floating in what appears to be an ill-fitting sealskin. Curator: The composition plays into that tension; it divides into distinct zones. Above, the portrait echoes formality, representative of social status, almost like an ancestor in a stately home. Editor: Right, but below, the rendering of Boynton as the 'champion deep-sea swimmer' is, shall we say, less idealized. The artist employs these repetitive stipples in the drawing, the little dots accumulating into tonal values that look less athletic than granular and uneven. Is this a commentary on the very notion of 'champions'? Curator: Perhaps. Or it could be about technological advancement. Boynton himself was a celebrated figure who toured demonstrating the use of his life-saving suit, the very one we see depicted. Editor: A suit that appears profoundly restrictive! Does the suit become a symbolic representation, maybe of technology as both liberating and confining? The waves are very light compared to Boynton's solidity. This isolation on the water further emphasizes this ambivalence, don't you think? Curator: Absolutely. He’s mastering the element while simultaneously being swallowed by it. In this particular historical moment, Boynton occupied the liminal space of innovation. These cards were effectively adverts; little icons intended to disseminate an aspirational ideal. Editor: So, on one hand, the print serves a commercial function. And yet, there’s something about that face…the portrait retains a strange blend of the aspirational and the mundane, with these commercial sporting cards presenting an interesting historical intersection of capitalism, celebrity, and athletic prowess. Curator: It reminds us that even images meant to celebrate progress carry layers of cultural and individual interpretations, echoing long after their intended purpose fades.