Art and Advertising

"Publicity images often use sculptures or paintings to lend allure or authority to their own messages" - John Berger

(Left:advertisement for Pizza Hut Classic Italian Crust, Right:Portrait of Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci)

Art and Advertising

 J. Crew's September 2011 catalogue

Edgar Degas

Art and Advertising

John Berger's little gem of a book, "Ways of Seeing," is crammed full of fascinating information on, well, ways of seeing. One of my favorite chapters in the book addresses the function and intent of publicity. One of his claims is that publicity relies on historical artistic references to sell products because 'it would lack credibility if it used a strictly contemporary language' (chapter 7, p. 139). So in honor of this idea, I will be posting an advertisement each week which appears to reference a particular work of art. 

Vera Wang by Serta

Gustav Klimt's "The Kiss"

Have you noticed any good ones? I'd love to see them! You can mention them in the comments section or send me an e-mail and I'll post one each week.