Germany, from the Dancing Girls of the World series (N185) issued by Wm. S. Kimball & Co. 1889

Editor: This is "Germany, from the Dancing Girls of the World series," a print made in 1889 by Wm. S. Kimball & Co. I’m really struck by the stylized figure, and I'm curious about the connection between Japonisme and the materials and labor involved in producing something like a tobacco card. What’s your take? Curator: It's fascinating to consider this card within a materialist framework. Let's think about the physical process: from the initial drawing to the printmaking techniques employed. How do you imagine the materials—the paper, the inks, the printing press—affected the final image? Editor: Well, I imagine that the mass production techniques, with inexpensive materials like paper, make it accessible, and the design incorporates aesthetics derived from Japanese art, that are, by their nature, inauthentic. Curator: Exactly! And consider the workers involved in each step of the process, from the artists who designed the image to the laborers operating the machinery. How does that labor inflect the work? Is this image a "high art" object or a commodity driven by labor? Editor: I never thought about it that way before! The “Dancing Girls of the World” becomes a product not just of artistic skill, but of industrial labor and global exchange too. Curator: Right. The print relies on both skilled labor (the artist’s design) and unskilled labor (the factory worker), further muddying the separation of art and commodity. Editor: So, seeing the image this way, as part of this manufacturing process and market context, really demystifies the idea of artistic genius. It opens it up to consider so many other contributing factors, social ones as well. Curator: Precisely. Thinking about how the material conditions and labor intersect not only expands our understanding but also challenges conventional hierarchies of art production and value. Editor: I'll never look at a tobacco card the same way again. Curator: Nor will I! Thank you for that point!