John L. Sullivan, Champion Heavy Weight Pugilist of the World, from the Champions of Games and Sports series (N184, Type 1) issued by W.S. Kimball & Co. 1887

Curator: At the Metropolitan Museum of Art, we're looking at a lithograph from 1887, "John L. Sullivan, Champion Heavy Weight Pugilist of the World." It's from a series called "Champions of Games and Sports" by W.S. Kimball & Co. Editor: My first impression is of something quite quaint. The soft color palette, the almost innocent presentation of a boxer…it's disarming. It looks like a playing card, really, with a surprisingly genteel feel given its subject. Curator: Indeed. These cards were distributed with W.S. Kimball & Co. cigarettes, meant to stiffen the packaging but also as a collectable item. Consider the appeal—connecting the everyday act of smoking with aspirations of athleticism and fame. Editor: Right, and boxing at this time, especially bare-knuckle boxing, was heavily associated with ideas about masculinity, but also social mobility and working-class life. What symbols were at play here, creating John L. Sullivan’s image? Curator: The carefully printed portrait combined with an active boxing scene represents both Sullivan's personal celebrity and his professional activities. A juxtaposition of the personal with labor, if you will. Consider the materiality of these cards: mass-produced, inexpensive, but circulating images of power. Editor: That’s fascinating. Notice the odd stillness of the boxing scene below the portrait. It is small. Sullivan towers above this depiction of fighting. I imagine it gave ordinary men a vicarious experience of triumph. Sullivan, himself, becomes almost an icon, a modern Hercules. Curator: Exactly. It is less about brutal violence and more about aspiration and the promise that hard work could equate social elevation. Also, the portraits are finely printed, drawing the viewer’s attention to Sullivan’s refined features even after the fight, conveying strength and sophistication in the face of tough working-class background and labor. Editor: Looking closely, I now notice the delicate line work. It is as though it seeks to elevate something typically associated with grit. These details complicate the initial "quaint" impression; now, I am curious about how this small card shaped cultural understandings of American sports heroes. Curator: Precisely. A confluence of labor, leisure, and symbolic representation. These tobacco cards serve to legitimize sport while simultaneously commercializing it. Editor: That interplay highlights such unexpected tension. Thank you!