Huntress, from The World's Racers series (N32) for Allen & Ginter Cigarettes 1888

Editor: This is "Huntress, from The World's Racers series," made in 1888 by Allen & Ginter. It's a colored-pencil drawing and print. It definitely has this kind of old-world feel, almost dreamlike. What's your interpretation? Curator: Oh, absolutely dreamlike! I see a wisp of Impressionism flirting with caricature, right? Those elongated legs on the horse seem to defy gravity, as if she's floating above the track rather than racing on it. Makes me think, what exactly *are* we racing towards anyway? A finish line, a fleeting moment of glory... or something more profound? Perhaps it's a reflection of the Gilded Age itself - all show and speed, balanced on the slenderest of foundations. What do you make of the choice to put this on a cigarette card? Editor: Interesting you mention the cigarette card aspect. To me it makes the image feel really accessible, kind of undermining the "high art" of painting, bringing it down to a smaller scale where more people could experience it. Curator: Exactly! Democratization of art through... tobacco! Ha! It's a quirky paradox. But there's a quiet humor here, I think, which softens the whole effect. Like a silent joke about the grand illusions we create. Are we all just little jockeys on horses of fleeting fame, riding towards our next cigarette break? What will folks think in a century from now, when they try to contextualize such images like this? Editor: I hadn’t considered that. I think I’ll be chewing on the jockey-on-a-horse-of-fame idea for a while now, pondering all the show and speed we build into our modern lives, too. Curator: Glad to hand you that bit to ponder. Who knows what inspiration awaits in art of the everyday, when it comes dressed as a jockey riding to sell smoke?