Drink Art: The Drinkers by Vincent van Gogh

Drink Art is a regular feature of Lyke2Drink that looks at famous works of art depicting men and women enjoying life and drink.

The Drinkers
Vincent van Gogh
Dutch, (1853-1890)

Vincent van Gogh is recognized for his brooding post-Impressionist paintings and for having sliced off the lobe of one of his ears. Before becoming an artist he was a salesman, a clerk in a bookstore and a preacher. Seeing his works in the great galleries of the world makes it even more amazing that he sold only one painting during his life. Troubled by mental health issues and abuse of absinthe, van Gogh committed suicide.

He clearly believed that alcohol was a social and artistic catalyst. Van Gogh spent time in Paris and often used what he saw as foder for paintings.

In The Drinkers, van Gogh is actually copying a woodblock print by Honore Daumier titled "Physiology of the Drinker, The Four Ages." The painting depicts a youth and three men gathered around a table, tankards in hand, with a pitcher at the ready for refills.

In the painting, which he did during the last year of his life, van Gogh moves away from the glamorous settings used by many Paris cafe artists that depicted the well to do enjoying life. The painting is among the 300,000 works on display at the Art Institute of Chicago.

Drink Art: The Vintage in California by Paul Frenzeny

Drink Art is a regular feature of Lyke2Drink that looks at famous works of art depicting men and women enjoying life and drink.

The Vintage in California, at Work at the Wine Presses
Paul Frenzeny
French, 1840-1902

During my recent California wine county visit I was reminded of the relationship between man and equipment in harvesting grapes and making wine. Today there are incredible pieces of machinery that can do amazing things in harvesting and crushing grapes, but the human element is still a critical part of the process.

In this illustration by French artist Paul Frenzeny we can see that more than 100 years ago the grape harvest was different, but it still involved immigrant labor, in this case Chinese workers, and a rush to get grapes in and crushed at their peak. The scene shows workers stomping grapes and a giant wine press at work. Wagons are crammed with grapes, suggesting just how long the days are at vineyards during harvest. A winemaker is in one corner of the piece with a tasting glass examining the new juice.

The illustration is part of the Bancroft Library at the University of California in Berkeley.

Drink Art: The Peasant Dance by Pieter Bruegel

Drink Art is a regular feature of Lyke2Drink that looks at famous works of art depicting men and women enjoying life and drink.

The Peasant Dance
Pieter Bruegel (Bruegel the Elder)
Belgian, 1525-1569

While most artists of the time spent their careers painting the rich and famous, Pieter Bruegel (Brueghel) was content with chronicling the lives of ordinary folk. We know quite a bit more than we might otherwise realize about the customs and dress of citizens of Holland from the mid-1500s because of his works.

Only about four dozen of Bruegel's paintings survive, along with several hundred drawings. It has, after all, been more than four centuries since his death and the European continent has been ripped by wars on a regular basis. One of Bruegel's most famous works is The Peasant Dance, which features people dancing, eating and drinking. A Bruegel painting can normally be picked out because the subjects are in motion, trying to get as much out of life as possible. Bruegel is also recognized as one of the first western painters to focus on landscapes.

The Bruegel's were a Flemish painting family. Bruegel the Elder's two sons Pieter and Jan are recognized artists, as are several members of the clan.

The Peasant Dance, which was painted in 1568, is part of the collection at the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, Austria.

His art is the inspiration for Bruegel Belgian Amber Ale from Brewery Van Steenberge. The 5.2 percent alcohol by volume beer has a scene from The Peasant Dance on the label.

Drink Art: Bieres de la Meuse by Alphonse Mucha

Drink Art is a regular feature of Lyke2Drink that looks at famous works of art depicting men and women enjoying life and drink.

Bieres de la Meuse
Alphonse Mucha
Czech (1860-1939)

Alphonse Mucha was an artist whose work ranged from painting theater sets to decorating the palaces of Central European royalty. While he created a variety of art nouveau paintings and even stained glass in Prague's St. Vitus Cathedral, some of Mucha's best known works are actually advertising posters.

Many of Mucha's works have common elements: pretty young women and plenty of floral motifs. In addition to beer posters, Mucha actually designed some of the first bank notes and postage stamps for Czechoslovakia when the country was granted independence as a result of World War I. A number of artists in the 1960s and 1970s picked up the Mucha style of art nouveau for advertising poster illustration.

When the Germans took control of Czechoslovakia as part of Nazi expansionism in 1939, Mucha was one of the people the Gestapo arrested. During his detention, Mucha fell ill with pneumonia and would die shortly after the Germans released the aging artist.

The Mucha Museum in Prague has a large exhibit of Mucha's work, plus details on his life. It is a good early day stop on any beer tourist's journey through the Czech capital.

Drink Art: A Bar at the Folies-Bergere by Edouard Manet

Drink Art is a regular feature of Lyke2Drink that looks at famous works of art depicting men and women enjoying life and drink.

A Bar at the Folies-Bergere
Edouard Manet
French, 1832-1883

Edouard Manet was a French painter involved in the transition from Realism to Impressionism styles. Early in his career many of Manet's works were controversial and he sometimes struggled to get exposure for his paintings as conservative galleries rejected them. He painted people in every day scenes and became well respected for his work, even though his last major piece, A Bar at the Folies-Bergere was criticized when it was first shown in 1882. It still creates debate today, with some suggesting the woman reflected in the mirror is the barmaid talking to a man and that Manet was making a point about prostitution in Paris at the time.

Manet's painting depicts a bar at the Folies-Bergere nightclub in Paris. The barmaid is waiting to serve customers a range of drinks from Champagne to Bass Ale. One can almost imagine throwing back a few in the club as the floor show unfolded, with its lively dancers and young ladies above on trapeze.

A Bar at the Folies-Bergere is part of the collection of the Courtauld Institute of Art at the University of London.

Drink Art: Nightlife by Archibald J. Motley Jr.

Over the weekend I was in Chicago and spent time with my Daughter, Brhea, at the Art Institute of Chicago and was blown away by the impressive and wide ranging collection. It reminded me of how often in museums from Florence to New York I have come face to face with depictions of alcohol in everyday life in the works of some of the world's great artists.

So, as a new feature of Lyke2Drink we will start to showcase some of these pieces of art. You can never have too much culture!

Nightlife
Archibald J. Motley Jr.
American, 1891-1981

Archibald J. Motley Jr. was famous for his works showing black social nightlife in Chicago's Bronzeville neighborhood, home to more than 90 percent of the city’s black population by the 1930s.

Nightlife is one of Motley’s best known paintings. The painting was created in 1943 and shows a high energy club with dancing and drinks flowing.