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Beer In Art #21: Jan Miense Molenaer’s Man With Glass Of Beer

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Today’s work of art is another old painting, from the 17th century. It’s by Jan Miense Molenaer, a Dutch painter who lived from around 1610-1668. He’s mostly known for his portraits, usually depicting everyday life, though he did still life work, too. He was a student of the more well-known Frans Hals, considered a Golden Age Dutch painter.

Here’s a short biography, from Encyclopedia.com:

Dutch painter, active in his native Haarlem and in Amsterdam, where he moved in 1636 after marrying Judith Leyster; both belonged in their youth to the circle of Frans Hals. He and his wife probably collaborated and sometimes it is difficult to differentiate their work. Molenaer, however, was more prolific and more versatile. His genre scenes range from pictures of the indecorous activities of peasants to exquisitely finished interiors showing well-to-do families. He also painted portraits and religious scenes. His early works (which are considered his best) have a grey-blond tonality and touches of bright colour; his later ones are darker, in the manner of Brouwer or Ostade. He had two painter brothers, Bartholomaeus (d. 1650) and Claes (d. 1676), both active in Haarlem.

The painting below is called Man With Glass Of Beer, and, oddly enough, is up for auction on the Italian eBay through the Gallery Duval. Opening bid is just under $3,000.

 
Here is the description of Man With Glass Of Beer from the auction:

Artist:
The painting is signed with a monogram “JM” for Jan Miense Molenaer (ca.1610-1668), a well-listed Dutch Baroque Era painter of genre subjects. He shared a studio with his wife, Judith Leyster, also a genre painter, portraitist and painter of still-life. Both Molenaer and Leyster may have been pupils of Frans Hals.His style is similar to that of Dutch genre painter, Adriaen van Ostade. His works often depicted players of music, taverns, card players, scenes of games. He also depicted biblical stories.

Age:
The painting is from the 17th century.

Medium:
The painting is a genuine oil painting on wood.

Size without frame:
The picture is 22 cm /8,6 inches high and 17 cm /6,6 inches wide.
The frame itself is 5 cm /2 inches wide.

Auction record:
A painting by Jan Miense Molenaer was sold at Christie’s, New York NY on the 16th January 1992 for $ 260,000.

Description:
Here you are offered a fine early 17th century oil painting of museum quality featuring a seated peasant man in a blue jacket, red trousers and a red hat, shown against a dark background. He is amused and coarsely smiling while raising a full glass of beer. On a plinth beside him stands a glistening ceramic pitcher. The work is marked by naturalistic precision in rendering the male figure captured in a dynamic and emotional gesture, excellent handling of colour and virtuoso effects of light and shadow.

 
This is perhaps his most beer-centirc work, though because he painted scenes from everyday life, many of his paintings involve drinking since it, too, was a part of everyday life in 17th century Holland. Here are a few more of his paintings that featured beer in them.

 

Drinking Peasants
Unknown date
Oil on panel, 62 x 79 cm
Private collection

 

Amorous Couple in an Inn
1640s
Oil on panel, 50 x 39 cm
Private collection

 

The King Drinks
1636-37
Oil on panel, 42 x 55 cm
The Collection of the Prince of Lichtenstein, Vaduz

 

Peasants in the Tavern
Unknown date
Oil on wood, 30,3 x 24,6 cm
Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest

 
If you want to learn more about the artist, Wikipedia, the Artnet or the ArtCyclopedia are all good places to start. And to see more of his work, check of the Web Gallery of Art.

 

Beer In The 1950s: Gracious Living

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I’ve been trying to research the United States Brewers Foundation for something I’ve been working on, but haven’t been able to find out very much. I believe they were formed on October 14, 1944 through a merger between the original United States Brewers Association (USBA), which was formed in 1862 (sort of, that’s was when the first meeting took place, at least), and the upstart United Brewers Industrial Foundation (UBIF), then only seven years old. The newly combined trade group was called the United States Brewers Foundation (USBF). What happened to them after that I can’t say. I’m sure somebody knows. The Encyclopedia of Beer (Rhodes, Christine, ed. The Encyclopedia of Beer. New York: Henry Holt & Co., 1995) claims the USBA is “now defunct” but also details how getting some legislation passed in October 1976 was its “crowning achievement.” By that I infer that they believe they were still a going concern at least as late as 1976, but that after that they “unofficially” merged with the Brewers Association of America (BAA), which was formed in 1941.

Even the Wikipedia entry for the USBA is contradictory. The first sentence claims the USBA existed from 1862 to 1986. But in the last paragraph, the 1944 merger is also recounted. I know the BAA “officially” merged with the Association of Brewers to create the present-day Brewers Association around four years ago. But if the USBA merged with the UBIF in 1944 to create the USBF, how was it possible they were still around in 1976 or 1986? Something is wrong there, I just don’t know which account is right.

Anyway, that’s almost pointless — except in the hopes that someone can set the record straight and has some authority to back it up — what’s important here is that I also stumbled on a great little propaganda film promoting the brewing industry produced by the USBF in the 1950s. It’s called As We Like It, and runs just over ten minutes. Parts of it are unintentionally funny, in the way all documentary films were during this time period. But perhaps more interesting is that some of the arguments they make about the positive aspects of the brewing industry are ones we’re still having to make today, which is a little sad. But since the New Drys keep ignoring them, we have to keep reminding them. That’s the nature of their propaganda, to simply not address uncomfortable or inconvenient truths. Here is, or rather was, ours. Enjoy!

 

 

For extra credit, guess how many times the words “clean” and “friendly” are used, including variants. Those seem to be the big selling points, that the beer industry is “clean” and “friendly.”

 

Beer Hunter, Whisky Chaser

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Today, in honor of Michael Jackson’s birthday, a new book was published, Beer Hunter, Whisky Chaser, featuring new short works or essays by a baker’s dozen of beer and whisky writers. The new works were all donated by the authors and the proceeds of the book will be donated to the Parkinson’s Disease Society. I know better than half of the writers, a number of whom are good friends, so even without reading it, I suspect it will be a worthwhile addition to your library. The authors are Stephen Beaumont, Dave Broom, Ian Buxton, John Hansell, Julie Johnson, Charles MacLean, Hans Offringa, F. Paul Pacult, Roger Protz, Lucy Saunders, Conrad Seidl, Carolyn Smagalski and Gavin D. Smith.

And it’s for a good cause. I’d say buy it on Amazon, but it’s not showing as being available. So look for it at your local bookstore soon. It would also make a lovely gift, don’t you think?

From the publisher’s website:

Editor Ian Buxton, who conceived the project, said “Michael Jackson dominated the world of both beer and whisky writing for two decades and was hugely influential in both ‘real ale’ and single malt whisky. A complete generation of writers has cause to be grateful to him, not to mention countless brewers and distillers. This new book honours that legacy.”

 

The Bistro To Host Bill Brand Birthday Celebration

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Tomorrow, beginning at 6:30 p.m., The Bistro in Hayward, California, will be hosting a Celebration of the late beer writer Bill Brand’s life on his birthday, which is March 26. Tomorrow would have been Bill’s 71st birthday.

The Bistro will be serving some rare beers, appetizers, and chocolates, peppered with toasts and camaraderie. All proceeds from the Special Beers will be donated to the Contra Costa Food Bank. Come join us at the Bistro if you’re able.

 

William “Bill” Brand
March 26, 1938 — February 20, 2009
Photo by D. Cameron Ross, Oakland Tribune

 

Homeland Security: Threat Level Amber Ale

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The Department of Homeland Security is, apparently, all done securing our borders from terrorist threats. I say that because they’ve moved on from their stated work, which consists of — as their website puts it — “Preserving our Freedom, Protecting America,” to the more important job of protecting America’s breweries from the looming spectre of terrorist attack. The first to be saved is Creekside Brewing, a new brewery that recently opened in San Luis Obispo, California. Owners John Moule and Eric Beaton were told by the TTB (The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau) that they must “protect the[ir] beer from terrorists” by building a wall around their tanks. At first the tanks, which sit in full view inside the brewpub, were separated from the public by some poles and chains. Not good enough, said the TTB. They must “be behind a physical barrier with locking doors,” they were told. So they put up locks. Still not good enough. Moule and Beaton were told to build a wall. After a lot of asking, they were finally told that “the wall was needed to prevent someone from poisoning the beer. What’s more, [the representative] told him it was a post-Sept. 11 measure that fell under the supervision of the Department of Homeland Security.” Creekside Brewing had to spend $15,000 on iron gates and thick glass and plastic, which also delayed their opening by a month.

Above is the new terrorist-proof Creekside Brewery. (Photo by Steve E. Miller of New Times). But where the story gets even more interesting, is that no one can say for sure exactly why, or under what law, they were singled out by the TTB to protect their brewery from a potential terrorist attack. As detailed by New Times, a local SLO newspaper, every federal agency pointed the finger at someone else when pressed for reasons why Creekside had to protect its beer. It’s pretty clear they’re the only brewery so far that’s been forced to put their brewery under lock and key in this fashion. But when it came to reasonable questions like “why,” things quickly turned into a Kafka novel. It’s definitely worth reading the New Times article, in which a labyrinth series of federal agencies were contacted, none of which would claim responsibility for Creekside’s delay in opening or their having to spend $15,000 on the new security measures. At the end, your head will be spinning. And you won’t feel any safer. As another blogger, Dick Destiny, put it. “One is more likely to be stung to death by bees than be the target of a terrorist attack in SLO.”

 
By sheer coincidence, I suspect, there is a Terrorist Beer Movement, but it has to do with people playing the video game America’s Army.

 

BeeR2-D2

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I’ve previously featured such beer and sci-fi related items from Star Trek and Futurama. We can now add Star Wars to the list, courtesy of he “official” Star Wars blog. A sculptor by the name of Paul Loughridge, who online goes by Lockwasher, who work primarily with scrap metal bits, created an R2-D2 model using a Heineken mini-keg. He made it for the San Jose Super Toy show and it’s over 16″ tall. The Star Wars blog also has an interview with Loughridge about the robot. Sadly, it contains no beer, but given that it’s Heineken, maybe that’s not such a bad thing after all.

 

Skinny Blonde Reveals All

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While nudity and disappearing bits on beer labels is hardly new, a trio of Australians have launched the latest version with their new Skinny Blonde. One of the three, Jarrod Taylor, is an artist who designed the label and another, Hamish Rosser, is a chemical engineer who figured how to make the skinny blonde’s bikini disappear using a chemical process similar to disappearing ink.

 

 
The three are from Bondi, a suburb of Sydney, and formed the company Brother’s Ink to make and market the beer. They began brewing in Taylor’s kitchen three years ago. The third owner is Richie Harkham, who’s a wine maker, actor and producer.Hamish Rosser is also the drummer for Australian band, The Vines.

 

 

They describe the beer on their website as follows. “Skinny Blonde contains no preservatives, chemical additives or animal products whatsoever so its OK for vegans. It’s 100% Australian.
Unlike most beers brewed in Australia Skinny Blonde is 100% Australian owned and operated. And it’s 100% Beer. Skinny Blonde is 5.2% alc/vol, low-carb and as tasty as its name sake.”

Beer In Art #20: Robert Melee’s Beer Bottle Cap Mosaics

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I found yet another artist using discarded beer bits, in this case crowns — what most people call bottle caps — to create fine art. Robert Melee is an artist from New Jersey, who also maintains a studio in New York. The main piece for today is entitled Unrendered Quasi-Articulated Chic Substitution, and was completed in 2003. It’s made of enamel, plaster, beer bottle caps on wood, and is 48 1/2 inches in diameter.

He currently has an exhibition at Andrew Kreps Gallery in New York City. The exhibition also includes a few other beer bottle cap works, such as Anti-Disassembled Substitution.

Another art blog, Edward Winkelman, describes this work as follows.

Robert titles each of these works some sort of “substitution.” And although I’ve actually discussed what this means with him, I’m still not totally sure. Beer as a substitution for love? It’s a painful notion.

Edward Winkelman has one more Melee bottle work, Redefined Gradual Substitution.

This work described like so:

As noted, the circles are beer bottle caps sunk in plaster, and although they do reference the alcoholism, suburbia, and dysfunction explored in his photography and videos, here they obviously serve a formal function and reference Pop Art and Op Art, and eyes, and give Robert a recognizable, accessible vocabulary unit that lends the work a clunky elegance (I LOVE “clunky elegance”). Besides, polka dots have been hot for a while (think Damien Hirst or Sigmar Polke) and whenever a motif crops up in various artists’ work, it usually suggests a zeitgeist of some sort.

There’s one more bottle cap woth at the Kreps Gallery, which is a curtain of crowns entitled Substitute Anti Sucklucking Substitution.

From Wikipedia:

Robert Melee (born 1966) is an artist based in NYC and Asbury Park, New Jersey. Melee was born in New Jersey. He makes multimedia art – videos, installations, collages. – His work is often compared to that of John Waters and Andy Warhol due to its overt campness. He is also a painter. He attended the School of Visual Arts in New York from 1986 – 1990.

There’s not much else about Melee out there, though there a post about his public sculptures at School of Visual Arts’ Continuing Education Blog, a New York Times review, and a piece about an exhibition at the Milwaukee Art Museum.

 

Hard Liver Fest Fotos

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Yesterday, Brouwer’s Cafe in Seattle, Washington, held their 7th annual Hard Liver Barleywine Fest. I was fortunate enough to judge again this year, and it was yet another terrific festival. When the doors opened at 11:00 a.m., a line snaked up to the end of the block and Seattle’s best Belgian bar was filled to capacity with minutes of opening.

 

After Hard Liver judging, Tom Peters (from Monk’s Cafe in Philadelphia), Matt Bonney (co-owner of Brouwer’s) and Stephen Beaumont relax with a few more tasty beers.

 

For more photos from this year’s Hard Liver Barleywine Fest, visit the photo gallery.