Vina Glover, from the Actors and Actresses series (N45, Type 1) for Virginia Brights Cigarettes 1885 - 1891

Editor: Here we have a fascinating relic from between 1885 and 1891: a print entitled "Vina Glover, from the Actors and Actresses series (N45, Type 1) for Virginia Brights Cigarettes," created by Allen & Ginter and residing at The Met. There's such a wistful air to this portrait, almost ethereal, and seeing it on what appears to be aged or toned paper really makes it feel like it's travelled through time. What stories do you think it holds? Curator: Oh, darling, that "wistful air" is precisely what hooks me! It’s like catching a fleeting memory, isn't it? This little card was part of a massive trend: using celebrity images to sell… well, everything! Think of it as proto-Instagram influencer marketing. Vina Glover, frozen here, becomes more than an actress. She becomes a symbol of aspiration, beauty – subtly, of course, endorsed by your choice of cigarette. I wonder, looking at her demure gaze, was she complicit or merely…used? What do you think? Editor: That’s an interesting question! Perhaps she saw it as another stage, another way to reach a broader audience? Though, I can imagine, a sense of loss of control, too. I’m also curious about the medium. It's a photograph made to look like a drawing, so which is it? Curator: Ah, now you're speaking my language! That blurriness is quintessential Pictorialism. Think of it as photography trying very hard to be taken seriously as *art*, to be "painterly." Soft focus, textured paper...It's whispering, "Look at me, I'm more than just a snapshot!" Does it work? That’s the question, isn't it? Editor: I think it does. It has an old-world charm, almost like a painting fading over time. This little advertising card holds such a deep cultural complexity! Curator: Exactly! We peel back the layers – tobacco, celebrity, artistic ambition - and find a fascinating snapshot, if you’ll forgive the pun, of a society yearning for something just out of reach. Art history is sneaky like that!