Victoria, Goddess of Victory, from the Goddesses of the Greeks and Romans series (N188) issued by Wm. S. Kimball & Co. 1889

Editor: Here we have "Victoria, Goddess of Victory," a colour print made around 1889 by William S. Kimball & Co. It's...peculiar. The goddess seems caught between Impressionism and something far more classical, even academic. What's your read on this, what details do you see? Curator: Peculiar is definitely a word for it! What jumps out is the sheer…optimism, shall we say. Victoria, a goddess packaged for cigarette cards, is a kind of celebration, a burst of classical reference wedded to industrial progress. Do you notice how she almost melts into the background, like a sweet daydream made hazy by cigarette smoke? It’s strangely compelling. Editor: Yes, the merging into the background. The colour palette adds to that dreaminess, pastel shades that don’t quite pop, the definition a little soft around the edges. So, do you think the goal was to evoke a sense of classical grandeur through a contemporary, almost… commercial lens? Curator: Precisely. It's high art aspirations meeting a mass-produced reality. William S. Kimball wasn't aiming to recreate the Louvre. But within the card's borders, don't you feel the echo of academic art? The ambition to elevate, to ennoble through classical allegory, it's all crammed into this tiny rectangle. I always imagine these cards escaping the factory floor and carrying that dream into everyday lives, briefly gracing the hands of factory workers and perhaps igniting a touch of wonder... maybe. Editor: That's a lovely image, a pocket-sized escape for a weary worker! I didn't see it that way at first. This has been a truly enlightening viewing, reframing my initial judgment entirely. Curator: And that's why we look, question, and hopefully glimpse a new angle in the reflections. I’ll raise a toast with you any day to the odd little art card.