Lillian Russell, from the Actresses series (N245) issued by Kinney Brothers to promote Sweet Caporal Cigarettes 1890

Editor: Here we have "Lillian Russell, from the Actresses series" created around 1890 by the Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company. It's a photographic print, presumably meant to be collected. It has such a staged and artificial feel, almost like a wax figure rather than a real person. What stands out to you about this portrait? Curator: What I find compelling is unpacking this image within the context of celebrity culture at the turn of the century, and the societal expectations placed on women, particularly performers like Lillian Russell. Her body, her image, were commodities, circulated by companies like Kinney Brothers to sell Sweet Caporal Cigarettes. It's a blatant example of how female identity becomes entwined with capitalist endeavors. Editor: That makes sense. She’s presented as an object of beauty to sell a product, but it feels…complex. Was she complicit in this objectification? Curator: Exactly. That’s where intersectional analysis comes in. How much agency did she have? Were there economic pressures that shaped her choices? It also opens a larger conversation about the male gaze and the performance of femininity, something heavily debated in feminist theory and art criticism. Consider the Post-Impressionist style, softening the edges, almost idealizing her, yet it is also distancing. Editor: So, by examining the historical context, it becomes more than just a pretty picture on a cigarette card; it is more about the intersection of gender, economics and power. Curator: Precisely. It compels us to critically examine not only the subject of the image but also the forces behind its creation and dissemination and what it reveals about social constructs during that era. Editor: I’ll never look at these old portraits the same way. There is so much more there than just what appears on the surface.