Miss de Bavier, from the Actresses series (N203) issued by Wm. S. Kimball & Co. 1889

This small photographic print of Miss de Bavier comes from a series of actresses produced by the American cigarette company, William S. Kimball & Co. This was part of a marketing strategy in the late 19th century that gave rise to a new kind of celebrity. The image presents us with a performer, and therefore a public figure, but also a woman whose sensuality is put on display to sell tobacco. Was she empowered or exploited by this arrangement? This was a time of evolving roles for women in Western society, with many more women entering the workforce. Actresses were among the first women to achieve widespread fame and, in doing so, they challenged the older Victorian ideas about female virtue. Careful research into sources from the period, such as theater reviews and census records, might tell us more about the social and economic circumstances that shaped this image. The meaning of art is always contingent on social and institutional contexts.