Accordion, from the Musical Instruments series (N82) for Duke brand cigarettes 1888

Curator: Let's turn our attention to "Accordion, from the Musical Instruments series (N82) for Duke brand cigarettes," dating back to 1888. We can see this artwork at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Editor: My first thought? Intimate. It’s like peeking into a very contained, almost miniature world. I immediately focus on the pale blue dress and that impossibly tiny, elaborate accordion. It's melancholic somehow. Curator: Precisely. The work offers an intriguing study in late 19th-century genre scenes. The artist, W. Duke, Sons & Co., employs coloured pencil and print to create this delicate portrait, focusing on the figure of a woman playing a musical instrument. Note how the planes of color serve to define the composition. Editor: Yes, there's a formality that pulls back, but there's this gorgeous tension between the rigidity of the posed figure and the inherent emotion evoked by music. Also, let's consider what’s being sold here… the dream, really. An escapist reverie, courtesy of nicotine. The puff sleeves feel like a not to the French Court, which is all about creating distance, like an artifact in a museum... It's deeply clever. Curator: The artist also manages to subtly negotiate the distinction between portrait and advertising through representational economy and its appeal to period expectations. This work encapsulates its function of selling tobacco products. It’s art leveraging itself. Editor: It definitely speaks to its era, doesn't it? Everything is so neatly arranged. I do feel though there’s a quiet defiance simmering just beneath the surface of those eyes looking elsewhere, out of the frame. And that pale dress gives it such an understated feeling for that time in the USA. Curator: Your point emphasizes how artistic expression mediates both itself and the social and economic structures in its particular era. A point well-made. Editor: Indeed. I appreciate its delicate nature, so rare when something of value like that can be contained and shared widely on tobacco cards, right? Curator: An exemplary analysis that helps clarify the nuances inherent in late 19th-century cultural ephemera and our relationship to these items today.