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Beer In Art #165 Adriaen van Ostade’s The Violin Player

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art-beer
Today’s work of art is by the Dutch artist Adriaen van Ostade, a Golden Age painter of genre scenes. This is the second painting of his I’ve featured, the first being Ale House Interior. Like that one, van Ostade did a watercolor first, and it, too, is in the Morgan Library & Museum in New York City. But eventually, in 1673, it was completed as an oil painting on a wood panel. It usually called The Violin Player, though some call it A Violinist at a Farmhouse Door.

Adriaen_van_Ostade-violinist

The painting today hangs in the Mauritshuis at The Hague in the Netherlands. The museum describes The Violinist:

A group of people are gathered in front of a simple house that seems to be a country inn. The atmosphere is one of gaiety, for an itinerant violinist has come to the door to play a tune, accompanied by the boy in the red jacket who plays the hurdy-gurdy. The music is enjoyed by young and old alike. In the middle of the picture, a man sits on a bench, his legs wide apart, holding a tankard of beer. In the doorway, a woman leans on the lower half of the door and two men look out, trying to catch a glimpse of the musicians. Some children hang about outside, enjoying the excitement. A tousled girl steadies a child wearing only one shoe, and a little boy makes contact with a dog.

I’m no expert on Dutch architecture, but the building doesn’t look like a farmhouse to me, as the Morgan Library insists. To me, at least, it looks more like a tavern door, and that better explains the man with the big tankard of beer.

To learn more about Adriaen van Ostade, Wikipedia and the J. Paul Getty Museum each have a biography of him, and you can also see links to his works online at ArtCyclopedia. The Web Gallery of Art and the Wikimedia Commons also feature a number of his paintings.

Beer In Ads #558: Vigor & Strength In Every Drop

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Wednesday’s ad is Rainier Beer, from the Seattle Brewing & Malting Co. Like the other Rainier ad I’ve featured, For Pure Drink, it’s from the early years of the 20th century, probably in the first decade. It’s a simple ad showing a beautiful woman holding up a dainty glass of beer while leaning on a giant bottle of Rainier. And I love the message, which would be illegal in a beer ad today; “There’s New Vigor and Strength in Every Drop.”

rainier-beer-ad

Beer In Ads #557: Extra Refreshing Because It’s Extra Dry

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Tuesday’s ad is for New York’s Rheingold Beer, featuring two celebrities in the 1960 ad. The celebrities are a famous couple: Geoffrey Holder and Carmen De Lavallade. You probably know Holder, even if you’re not familiar with his name, especially if you’re a James Bond fan. He was originally from Trinidad and played Baron Samedi in Live and Let Die. He’s the one with that great booming voice, which he used years later in a series of ads for 7Up. It was the “Uncola” series and his booming laugh ended each ad and had such memorable phrases as “crisp and clean, no caffeine” and “never had it, never will.” His wife, Carmen De Lavallade, was a famous dancer and in fact they met working on a broadway musical, the House of Flowers. This ad was done when they were both locally famous and just getting started with their careers. The setting seems to be a theater, as you can see the lights in the ceiling behind them. And I’ve played in enough musicals to recognize the object in the lower right, which is a pit orchestra stand to hold your music, with a small light to shine on the music so you can still see it when the stage is dark. And I love the tagline: “Extra refreshing because it’s Extra Dry!”

Rheingold-holder-lavallade

Beer In Ads #556: Bud’s Hammer Time

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Monday’s ad is yet another from Budweiser’s “Where There’s Life ..” series. This one shows a man who’s trying to fix what to my eyes appears to be an old rotary telephone … with a hammer. I’m not sure that’s the right tool for the job. But based on the look on his face, I’m not sure he has his mind on what he’s doing anyway.

budweiser-hammer

Beer In Art #164: Vincent Van Gogh’s Agostina Segatori Sitting in the Café du Tambourin

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art-beer
Today’s artwork is another painting by one of the world’s most well-known artists, Vincent Van Gogh. This one is a portrait entitled Agostina Segatori Sitting in the Café du Tambourin, completed in 1887. Today it hangs in the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, Holland.

Van_Gogh-Agostina-Segatori-1887

Here’s how Wikipedia describes the work:

In the painting Agostina, a woman in her forties, can be seen smoking a cigarette while having her second glass of beer, evidenced by two saucers under the mug of beer. In demeanor and style, such as her clothing, make-up and hairstyle, she is a modern woman. She is wearing a fashionable hat. According to the style at the time, her jacket is a different design than her dress. A parasol sits on one of the seats next to her.

Van Gogh used the theme of a woman sitting at a small table, introduced by Impressionists, such as Edgar Degas and Edouard Manet. The table and stools were in the shape of tambourines, befitting the café’s theme. On the wall behind her are Van Gogh’s Japanese prints, which he began exhibiting at the café in February, 1887. The brightly colored painting and confident subject represent a shift in Van Gogh’s attitude, in comparison to his previous subjects, such as were dark, tragic peasants.

And apparently Van Gogh was very familiar with both the Café du Tambourin and its owner, Agostina Segatori, who had also been a model for Edouard Manet, Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot and other artists. More from Wikipedia:

[The Café du Tambourin] was a gathering spot for Parisian artists, a place where their work was exhibited. Van Gogh, unable to pay in cash for his meals, exchanged paintings for meals. The paintings then adorned the restaurant. He held a special exhibit of his Japanese prints in the café as well. His connection with Agostina and the cafe came to a sad end when she went bankrupt and Van Gogh’s paintings were confiscated by creditors. This painting, however, demonstrates an artistic discovery that culminated in his unique, creative style not quite on the brink of being understood and revered.

I can’t tell if she’s trying to relax after a long day, or having a quick smoke and a coiple of beers in order to face her shift behind the bar. Based on the expression on her face, it could be either.

For more about Vincent Van Gogh, Wikipedia is a good place to start, though there’s even more at the Vincent Van Gogh Gallery, which has a complete list of his works. There are also tons of links at the ArtCyclopedia and another biography at the Web Museum.

Guinness Ad #109: The Cellist

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guinness-toucan
Our 109th Guinness ad is from around 1945, an original by John Gilroy. I’ve never seen a final version of this ad, but I have to assume it was used at some point. It shows a cellist so engrossed in his music, and so strong thanks to the Guinness under his music stand, that he’s sawed his cello in half. I didn’t realize horsehair was so sharp. The tagline is, of course, “Guinness for Strength.”

Guiness-for-Strength-John-Gilroy-1945