Four Roses Whiskey: Worth Reaching For

Anton Bruehl American, born Australia

1949

Not on view

Before ascending to the heavens, this glass of whiskey toured the world. In the pages of LIFE and Newsweek, it could be seen surmounting arctic slopes and traveling by train. It sweated deckside on a luxury liner, rode a Ferris wheel, and went sledding. Meticulously staged by the pioneering color photographer Anton Breuhl, such absurd tableaux conjured worldly associations for his client, the mid-tier Kentucky distiller Four Roses. Against all odds, these eye-catching scenarios were not darkroom fabrications; Bruehl constructed them by hand, with the help of miniaturists, set dressers, and a celebrity florist. Testing appetites for novelty, illusion, and abundance—all standbys of twentieth-century advertising—against the limits of good taste, he wagered that this crisp simulacrum would slake your thirst, then melt into hot air.

Artwork Details

Title: Four Roses Whiskey: Worth Reaching For
Artist: Anton Bruehl (American (born Australia), Hawker 1900–1982 San Francisco, California)
Date: 1949
Medium: Photomechanical print
Dimensions: 26.1 x 27.4 cm (10 1/4 x 10 13/16 in.)
Frame: approx. 20 x 20 in.
Classification: Prints
Credit Line: Ford Motor Company Collection, Gift of Ford Motor Company and John C. Waddell, 1987
Object Number: 1987.1100.437
Rights and Reproduction: © Estate of Anton Bruehl
Curatorial Department: Photographs

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