Brighton, from the Beautiful Bathers series (N192) issued by Wm. S. Kimball & Co.

Art Historical Context

Step into the vibrant world of late 19th-century American ephemera with *Brighton, from the Beautiful Bathers series (N192)*, a petite commercial color lithograph issued by Wm. S. & Co. in 1889. Printed by master lithographer Julius Bien, 3 3/4 × 2 1/2-inch card captures women in leisurely bathing attire at the seaside resort of Brighton—likely evoking Brighton Beach, a popular New York destination. As part of a tobacco company's promotional series tucked into cigarette packs, it exemplifies how businesses like Kimball, based in Rochester, New York, enticed collectors with alluring imagery during the Gilded Age. Chromolithography, the era's breakthrough in affordable color printing, shines here through Bien's precise layering of inks, producing vivid blues, sunny yellows, and delicate skin tones that brought mass-produced beauty to everyday hands. These "trade cards" or "cigarette cards" fueled a collecting craze, blending commerce with art and reflecting Victorian fascination with leisure, fashion, and idealized femininity amid rising beach culture. Today, housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Jefferson R. Burdick Collection, this ephemera gem highlights the overlooked artistry of advertising. It whispers of a time when a simple card could transport smokers to sun-kissed shores, bridging commercial savvy with cultural allure. (198 words)

About the Artist

Julius Bien|William S. Kimball & Company (American, Swiss|American) · 1814 |1826 –1896 |1909

American, born Switzerland, 1814/15–1896|American (born Germany), Naumberg 1826–1909 United States