Kherson, from the Dancing Girls of the World series (N185) issued by Wm. S. Kimball & Co. 1889

Curator: What a fascinating little thing! It gives me such a wistful, almost dreamy sensation. Editor: Indeed! This is "Kherson, from the Dancing Girls of the World series," created around 1889 by Wm. S. Kimball & Co. The medium seems to be a print, possibly with some hand-coloring or drawing involved. Curator: It's the muted palette that gets me. It’s sweet but almost fading away—like a memory tinted with nostalgia. The artist has a sensitive way of handling the color in the face to create a lifelike feeling in something so small. What strikes you most about the work, beyond its material existence? Editor: I think it’s worth considering its original function. This was a cigarette card inserted in packs, part of a much larger cultural phenomenon of using such imagery for branding and also, often, propagating rather narrow and exoticized ideas of “other” cultures to a mass audience. This card tells as much about the culture that produced it as about Kherson. Curator: Ah, the grander scheme. So this dancing girl becomes more about projecting a Western male gaze? The theatricality of the costume and the pose, perhaps made for easy consumption and easy cultural understanding. Editor: Precisely. Think of the other "dancing girls" in the series—the choices made about how to represent them, what visual stereotypes were being reinforced, how did Kimball’s brand become associated with these global images. The images may be quaint but they’re definitely strategic. Curator: That context dims the sweetness a little, doesn’t it? Suddenly I am less at the dance and more inside a commercial enterprise with a political agenda! The painting still does transport you, but history recontextualizes the viewing process and makes me pause. Editor: It always does, doesn't it? A reminder of the social work of art itself, beyond simply personal feeling or surface pleasure. Curator: Well, that certainly reframes this dancing girl’s pirouette in my mind. So many levels to unravel here! Editor: Exactly, which makes spending time with artworks worthwhile, and helps make these connections.