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

Art Historical Context

Step into the vibrant world of late 19th-century advertising *Dinard, from the Bathers series (N)*, a charming commercial color lithograph produced in 1889 by Julius Bien for William S. Kimball & Company, a prominent American tobacco firm. This petite print, measuring just 3 3/4 × 2 1/2 inches, captures the elegant profile of a woman in bathing, evoking the leisurely seaside glamour of Dinard, a resort town in Brittany,. Part of a collectible series (cataloged as N192 in tobacco card lore), it was likely distributed as a promotional insert with Kimball's cigarette packs, blending artistry with commerce. Chromolithography, the medium's ingenious technique, allowed for vivid, multi-layered colors through sequential stone printing—a technological marvel of the Gilded Age that made high-quality images affordable and mass-producible. Bien, a master lithographer known for his precision in maps and illustrations, brought a refined touch to these ephemera, highlighting idealized feminine beauty and the era's fascination with leisure and exotic locales. Today, housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Jefferson R. Burdick Collection, this delicate piece offers a window into Victorian-era consumer culture, where everyday products fueled a booming trade in beauty and fantasy. A delightful snapshot of how art permeated popular life!

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