Miss Martonet, from the Actresses series (N245) issued by Kinney Brothers to promote Sweet Caporal Cigarettes 1890

Curator: Oh, isn't she lovely? There's a dreaminess to this piece, like a memory caught in amber. Editor: Yes, indeed. We are looking at "Miss Martonet" from the Actresses series (N245), printed around 1890 by Kinney Brothers, who cleverly used these as promotional inserts for Sweet Caporal Cigarettes. It is currently housed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Curator: A cigarette ad! That’s unexpected, but explains the theatrical flair. She’s posed like a woodland sprite. The background, that painterly forest scene—it’s so romantic and yet… distant. Editor: Observe the deliberate composition. Miss Martonet is centered, yet her gaze is directed off to the side, creating an interplay between her presence and absence. The albumen print process, coupled with colored pencil work, results in a tactile yet ethereal quality. Curator: I’m tickled by the disconnect. Is it a photo, a drawing, a painting? It's trying to be so many things at once. The soft focus almost feels like it's hiding something… Maybe a clever comment on fame? Editor: Semiotically, the piece invites scrutiny of its artifice. Note how the art nouveau influences soften the overall tone with flowing lines, creating a stylized, idyllic stage for the actress. Her positioning becomes a signifier, poised delicately at the boundary between nature and artifice. Curator: Artifice! Yes! You nailed it. That slightly pained expression… like she's saying, "Yes, I'm beautiful and on display, now buy your cigarettes!" There is humor and pathos, strangely mingled together. Editor: This print captures a liminal moment in history when photography started transforming into mass media. Analyzing it, it serves as a commentary on celebrity and consumer culture, hinting towards its eventual prevalence in modern society. Curator: A little melancholic charm amidst the capitalist drive then? Editor: Precisely. I am drawn to consider that there is an intriguing beauty, but with layered subtexts. Curator: Indeed, a faded photograph, yet bursting with so much information on closer inspection.