Portrait of woman, from the Novelties series (N228, Type 1) issued by Kinney Bros. 1889

Curator: What strikes me is how softly this image seems to glow; there’s an ethereal quality about the young woman's gaze. It's also a diminutive drawing and print—it really draws you in close. Editor: It’s lovely, isn't it? We're looking at an advertisement card from Kinney Bros. Tobacco Company, dating back to 1889. The artwork, entitled “Portrait of woman, from the Novelties series," presents an intriguing figure within the impressionistic style popular then. Curator: Knowing its commercial origins casts it in a new light. The gentleness suddenly reads as calculated, a play to sentimentality to sell a product. I'm wondering about the semiotics of that sly glance... Editor: Indeed. The glance suggests both invitation and a coy self-awareness—characteristics meant to be alluring to the consumer. Think, too, of the connotations of round shapes: they are nurturing, secure, complete… the portrait almost resembles a looking-glass. Curator: Right. Like a polished mirror, reflecting and magnifying desires! The colour palette also adds depth. Note the light peach of her skin, combined with an equally tender baby-blue in the background; very reminiscent of Renaissance palettes, almost Virgin-like. It is almost comical to link something this chaste and divine with something as decidedly unholy as tobacco. Editor: Tobacco had rather different connotations then! Also, beyond that juxtaposition, think of how print functioned in this period. It was, on the one hand, the terrain of high art reproductions. On the other, printed matter saturated daily life. These cards are somewhere in between: mass-produced, accessible and decorative... bringing high art values to everyday use. The red accent of the hat could evoke passion or revolutionary ideals too. It all comes together quite interestingly. Curator: Fascinating how it's all layered, each choice in the image seems both deliberate, as branding usually is, and ambiguous in its references. So it looks straightforward enough at first, but hides so much! Editor: Yes! It provides a powerful look at how artists and marketers captured the imagination of their consumers over a century ago. Curator: Really gives a new spin on artful deception and subliminal communication. You come for tobacco and get sold so much more. Editor: Precisely; a tiny snapshot teeming with a spectrum of fascinating symbolism.