Miss Devaux, from the Actresses series (N203) issued by Wm. S. Kimball & Co. 1889

Curator: This is "Miss Devaux, from the Actresses series," printed by Wm. S. Kimball & Co. in 1889. What grabs your attention about it? Editor: Well, first, it’s on a card that was part of a cigarette pack. That seems like an odd place for art. And it looks like a photograph, but maybe also a drawing? The actress is dressed provocatively. I wonder how the mass production of images like this changed the consumption of art. Curator: Exactly! Think about it: Photography reproduced en masse on cheap cards. This shifted image ownership from the elite to the everyday consumer. How does the explicit link to cigarettes affect our interpretation? Editor: It’s pretty blatant, isn’t it? Sex sells. But it also makes me think about the labor involved in tobacco farming and cigarette production, probably very exploitative. Was the goal really art, or just sales? Curator: Both, likely, and inextricably intertwined. This era saw the rise of mass production, transforming everything, art included. These cards circulated widely; consider their material presence. It speaks to labor practices, distribution networks, and a burgeoning visual culture. Now, let’s consider the act of collecting itself. What kind of desires were these images feeding? Editor: Besides obvious ones...maybe a desire for connection to a celebrity, but in a consumable, disposable way? Like an early form of fandom fuelled by consumerism. I hadn’t considered how loaded such a small object could be. Curator: Precisely. This seemingly simple card unveils the complex social and material relationships underpinning art and culture during the Industrial Revolution. It blurs the lines between high art and a disposable commodity, prompting a discussion on access, consumption, and the nature of artistic production.