Steamship City of New York, Inman Line, from the Ocean and River Steamers series (N83) for Duke brand cigarettes 1887

Editor: Okay, next up we have a rather curious piece. It’s a print from 1887, titled "Steamship City of New York, Inman Line," created by W. Duke, Sons & Co. for their Duke brand cigarettes. It combines a portrait, a landscape, and the image of a steamship. The split composition and pale colors give it a dreamlike quality. How do you read this piece? Curator: Dreamlike is the perfect word. It's almost as if someone tried to capture a fleeting memory on a postcard. See how the female portrait and the steamship scene barely seem to acknowledge each other, almost separate worlds co-existing? Perhaps that's the allure of the piece, that quiet disjunction that draws the eye in, makes you wonder what kind of voyage it's trying to suggest? The ship represents a promise, doesn't it? Commerce, exploration, a better life even. A lot of hope, bundled into the smokestacks and steam. Editor: That’s an interesting take. The composition feels really unusual. The way the female portrait and ship scene occupy equal, but distinct, space feels unbalanced but captivating. Curator: Exactly. Imagine being transported on that steamship, leaving behind one life for another... what would you take with you? It is fascinating to observe, though, how mass production created something quite evocative; and it makes one consider the value assigned to images and objects and their relationship to desire! Does the art serve the marketing, or does the marketing serve the art? Editor: Never thought of it that way before! I guess advertising images can be artworks themselves. Food for thought! Curator: Indeed! Advertising, dreams and long voyages on steamships... all linked on a little piece of cardboard.