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Beer In Ads #3459: Stella Artois Geen Twijfel…

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Thursday’s ad is for Stella Artois, from probably the 1950s. From the late 1800s until the 1980s, poster art really came into its own, and in Europe a lot of really cool posters, many of them for breweries, were produced. I’ve been posting vintage European posters all last year and will continue to do so in 2020. This poster was created for Brouwerij Artois, which began brewing their popular Stella Artois in 1926. A brewery existed on the same site in Leuven, Belgium, since at least 1366, and in 1708, Sebastiaen Artois became the brewmaster for what was then known as the Den Hoorn brewery. Nine years later, in 1717, he bought the brewery and renamed it the Artois brewery. In 1988, they were a founding member of InterBrew, which went on to gobble up other breweries and today is known as Anheuser-Busch InBev. This poster was created by an artist signing their name as “M.S. Benedictus.” The text, “Geen Twijfel,” translates as “No Doubt.”

They also made signs using the same artwork:

Beer In Ads #1736: Quality Beer From Belgium

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Saturday’s ad is for Stella Artois, from 2006. This is not a particularly old ad, but it’s meant to look older, or at least more classic, than it is. I really like the visuals of it, if not the beer itself. But then I love flags and am an amateur vexillologist. I visited the Stella Artois brewery in Leuven last year, with a large group of beer judges, and it holds the record for “worst beer tour” ever. Not the longest (that was a couple of days later) but they kept us sweating in hot, confined area, restricted our movement like they were afraid we were spies and generally treated us like children. Oh, and I later found out they thought we were rude, which is hilarious. I had also hoped that at the source, I’d finally understand what all the fuss is abut the beer. Nope, it still didn’t taste very good, at least to me.

stella-artois-flag

Beer In Art #34: Faye Yong’s Rivers Of Gold

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art-beer
Today’s work of art is by Faye Yong, an illustrator and manga graphic novel artist who’s originally from Malaysia, but who came to the UK for art school and has remained in Cambridge. The title of the work is Rivers of Gold and is the fourth painting in a series of six called Wonderland Lost.

Yong_rivers-of-gold

The series deals with her “experiences since coming to the West.” Rivers of Gold she explains is about “Drinking culture, sometimes I feel like I’m drowning in beer.” The art is done using Adobe Photoshop and took her approximately 40 hours.

It’s interesting that she chose Stella Artois as the beer, but it is fairly popular in the UK where she lives. That’s her inside the pint glass, of course, as she appears as a diminutive version of herself in every one of the six paintings. But its got some great surrealist weirdness in it, from the fountains of beer, the soccer sun to the flying beer cans.

The other topics include fashion, hooliganism and uncivilised behaviour on the streets, shattered illusions and sexual promiscuity and overindulgent young people.

According to her website:

I’m an illustrator and comic artist specialising in the field of digital art. My interests and influences come from digital painting, concept art, fantasy, fashion as well as manga. I believe in creating beautiful artwork for the betterment of mankind, and am always looking forward to learning new things

This is the biography of Yong at the website of Sweatdrop Studios, the publisher of her first graphic novel Murphy’s Law.

I’m a former pianist who escaped the muggy tropicals of Malaysia to pursue an Illustration degree in UK. I dream of a world filled with eye candy and I believe strongly in creating more beautiful illustrations for the betterment of the universe. It is my lifelong goal to improve artistic & storytelling skills.

I recently won the 3rd place & People’s Choice Award of Tokyopop Rising Stars of Manga UK & Ireland 3.

I have a terrible weakness for shoujo manga and anything with a happy ending. I place much importance on visual gratification and tummy happiness.

There’s not much more biographical information online, but there are samples of her comic work and other graphic work in a gallery. She also illustrated version of Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice. She was also Artist of the Month on a British Manga website, Mangaka. And Sweatdrop Studios has a Wikipedia page.