Gar Fish, from the series Fishers and Fish (N74) for Duke brand cigarettes 1888

Editor: This lithograph from 1888, "Gar Fish" by Knapp & Company, is so odd! It's a colored-pencil drawing printed as a caricature for Duke brand cigarettes. The exaggerated features are really striking. How do you interpret this work? Curator: The image speaks to me of cultural memory and how we’ve historically used imagery to classify the natural world through visual metaphor. Observe how the woman and the fish mirror each other. Do you see how the artist creates a correspondence, almost an equivalency, between the fashionable woman and the "gar fish"? Editor: Yes, I notice that now. The title makes more sense, but why combine them like this? Curator: The visual symbolism of this era often aimed to reflect social hierarchies, but here, it's also about capturing a moment of leisure and perhaps a touch of satire. Notice the small details: the elaborate hat, the fishing pole. They point towards the aspirations and the humor directed at a particular social class at the time. Consider: What feeling do you get from her face? Editor: I see. Her face does seem a bit vacant, maybe even bored. As if the activity of fishing is just another fashion accessory. It’s interesting to consider that people haven't really changed that much. Curator: Precisely! Symbols evolve, but the underlying human behaviors they represent often persist across time, reminding us of shared cultural narratives. These repeating visual patterns, informed by history and psychology, really do continue to inform our modern social understanding, don't you agree? Editor: Absolutely, viewing art this way reveals so much about ourselves!