Peter Cooper, from the series Great Americans (N76) for Duke brand cigarettes 1888

Curator: I find it incredibly charming—like a forgotten keepsake. There's this slightly faded quality that whispers of another time. Editor: Indeed. What we have here is “Peter Cooper, from the series Great Americans” created around 1888 by W. Duke, Sons & Co., famed purveyors of tobacco products. This particular portrait is part of a set of collectable cards, popular promotional items of the time, now held at the Metropolitan Museum. It combines color pencil drawing and print work. Curator: I hadn't realized it was part of a cigarette promotion. It really makes you think about what we choose to immortalize, doesn’t it? What sort of cultural heroes and through which venues do we champion our idols? Editor: Quite right. Consider the composition. We have the portrait, set against a pale rendering of an imposing institutional building and it's carefully designed to convey both authority and progress. Cooper, a 19th century industrialist and philanthropist, is foregrounded to appear both prominent and trustworthy, aided of course by the textual reinforcement printed on the card. Curator: It’s so quaint, the way they printed his name and all of Duke's marketing information in the foreground—claiming to be "the largest cigarette manufacturer in the world." A humble brag if I've ever seen one. Do you think the cool palette lends some solemnity to this particular portrait, like the past bearing down? Editor: Possibly, though I lean towards the coolness offering a measure of restraint to what is ultimately an exercise in commercial persuasion. The style is quite realist, and that adds a layer of verisimilitude, which undoubtedly serves its marketing objectives well. There's a definite lack of the idealization common in portraiture of the era, wouldn't you agree? Curator: I love how unexpected it all is, really. An imperfect snapshot of a man, an imperfect advertisement, the imperfection makes this infinitely more interesting! It feels like a slice of honest history and forgotten artistry tucked into something as ordinary as a pack of cigarettes. Editor: A collision of commerce and culture, rendered through line, tone, and type—an intersection we often overlook in our analyses of art history. Thank you for the unexpected but enriching experience.