Today’s work of art is by the American pin-up artist Gil Elvgren known for his glamour illustrations and cheesecake paintings, though he also worked in advertising throughout his forty-year career. In 1953, he did this painting for the Spoetzl Brewery in Shiner, Texas. It was originally founded in 1909, today it’s owned by the Gambrinus Company in San Antonio.

The finished ad included the addition of the Shiner logo and was known as “Shiner Texas Special. You can see the final ad in tomorrow’s Beer in Ads series.

To learn more about Gil Elvgren, check out his biography on Wikipedia or on GilElvgren.com. The American Art Archives has more of his advertising illustrations and you can see more of his pin-up work at Elvgren Pinup, GilElvgren.com, the Great American Pin-Up and the Elvgren Concordance, which has over 500 of his pin-up works.