Basketball Girl, from the series "Hamilton King Girls" (T7, Type 6), issued by Turkish Trophies Cigarettes 1913

This is Hamilton King's "Basketball Girl," one of a series issued by Turkish Trophies Cigarettes. The image feels so soft and gentle, like it was carefully built up through layers of color, each mark delicately placed. It's interesting how the artist used color and texture to create a sense of depth and movement. Notice the background rectangle of muted yellow, it is not a solid color, but seems to have been brushed on with some texture. The same can be seen in her dress. There's a beautiful tension between the flatness of the picture plane and the illusion of three-dimensional space, this tension makes the image feel so alive. The grey border around the central image also adds to this tension between flatness and depth. King’s work reminds me of Cassatt’s, a shared interest in the intimate moments of everyday life, but here translated through the lens of commercial art. Art, like basketball, is a game of skill, process, and endless interpretation.