Codfish, from the Fish from American Waters series (N8) for Allen & Ginter Cigarettes Brands 1889

Editor: Here we have “Codfish, from the Fish from American Waters series,” created in 1889 by Allen & Ginter, it’s a colored pencil drawing. I'm really interested in how this small print, seemingly for commercial use, really calls to mind traditional Japanese Ukiyo-e prints in its composition. What do you make of this piece? Curator: A compelling observation. Notice how the artist meticulously renders the texture and gradation of colour on the fish scales using coloured pencils? It’s fascinating how the eye is drawn across the entire form. What structural devices has the artist employed here to organize the composition? Editor: Well, the fish is centrally located, of course. And its horizontal body mirrors the horizontal rectangle shape of the print itself. Does that contribute to its balance? Curator: Precisely. This alignment creates a sense of visual equilibrium, enhancing the viewing experience, a technique utilized within the Eastern traditions you highlighted. It is tempting to deconstruct the relationship of form and the creation of pictorial space here; the fish isn’t *in* water so much as hovering on its surface, existing solely in and of itself. Editor: So, you’re saying the context doesn’t really matter? Curator: Form supersedes context. Allen and Ginter were masters of utilising techniques that, while originally associated with the art world, elevated commercial art through careful manipulations of lines and colors. Editor: I see what you mean; they made something really beautiful out of what was just supposed to sell cigarettes. Curator: Indeed, we’re confronted with a dynamic interplay of formal structures and the transmutation of meaning. Editor: Thank you. Now I have a greater appreciation of its simple form and skillful composition.