Carrara, from the City Flags series (N6) for Allen & Ginter Cigarettes Brands 1887

Curator: This delicate coloured-pencil drawing is titled "Carrara, from the City Flags series," dating back to 1887, and made for Allen & Ginter Cigarettes. The brand, known for its collectable cards inserted into cigarette packs. Quite charming, wouldn't you agree? Editor: Immediately, I’m struck by the pastoral feeling. This tiny card holds this surprisingly grand landscape—those little figures hauling marble seem almost mythical. It’s a romantic vision, for a cigarette card. Curator: Yes, these cards were fascinating cultural artifacts. Intended as premiums to stiffen the cigarette packs and advertise the brand. "Carrara" reflects the commercial appetite for exotic locations, feeding the consumer’s imagination while also nodding to the industrial extraction of resources. Editor: It makes you wonder about the person who selected Carrara—and even composed this image! What were they imagining as they conceived of Italy, the land of marble? I’d love to know where they acquired this, as an American making these choices… was it personal or marketing-driven? Curator: I am sure that marketing-driven strategies have always prevailed, yet such drawings allowed for the democratization of visual culture. Suddenly landscapes and foreign coats of arms become commodities, miniature paintings as attainable items in a world increasingly industrialized and commercialized. The availability changes accessibility forever. Editor: Absolutely, this artwork exists where fine art and product design collide. On one hand, the execution feels meticulous with the textures that evoke depth and distance. On the other hand, there's no getting around that the composition had one objective: Selling Richmond, Allen & Ginter’s Virginia Cigarettes. It makes the entire process seem deeply ambivalent! Curator: Precisely the contradiction I’m after. These objects represent our complex relationship to both the natural world and commodified image, these became small yet palpable reflections of that historical moment in the hands of the smoker. Editor: Such objects bring me back to the tactile. The sense of touch; how this card felt to hold; what thoughts were formed looking at the colours. As an Artist, that visceral intimacy makes art worth exploring every single time! Curator: Thank you for lending such perspective to this Carrara landscape! I completely concur and feel rewarded after contemplating labor, commodity, and material culture as portrayed here in miniature form.