Prenez un Louis. Apéritif sain économique, au goudron de Norvège, created by Publicité Wall in 1910, turns an unusual drinks advertisement into an exuberant encounter between product, mascot and slogan. Against a brilliant red field, a green anthropomorphic tree strides in from the left, its branch-like arms and animated expression lending comic energy to the display. Beside it, a bottle marked “Goudron Louis” stands on a white tray with three small glasses, while the commanding instruction “PRENEZ un LOUIS” stretches across the top in bold white lettering.

The poster belongs to an early twentieth-century advertising culture in which apéritifs, tonics and branded drinks were frequently promoted through a mixture of pleasure, novelty and purported practical benefit. Here, “APÉRITIF SAIN ÉCONOMIQUE” presents Louis as both healthy and economical, while the reference to Norwegian tar gives the drink a strikingly medicinal, nature-derived identity. Such language reflects a period when the boundaries between refreshment and tonic were often blurred in commercial publicity. In France before the First World War, brightly coloured posters had become a prominent part of urban visual life, designed to make a name, bottle or phrase immediately recognisable in busy public spaces.

A closer look

The design is constructed for rapid recognition. Its red background is not scenery but an emphatic plane of colour, setting off the green figure, white lettering and yellow accents with exceptional clarity. The tree occupies the central-left portion of the composition, its limbs described by lively curves rather than botanical realism. Linear marks along the trunk suggest bark, while the exaggerated face transforms an ingredient associated with wood and tar into a memorable theatrical character. A small amount of shadow beneath the figure prevents it from floating entirely free of the ground.

The bottle and glasses introduce a contrasting note of order. Arranged on their pale tray in the central foreground, they form a compact still life beneath the mascot’s energetic pose. Decorative details on the bottle label reward closer inspection, and tiny highlights on the three glasses give them a glint absent from the poster’s otherwise predominantly flat treatment. This slight suggestion of reflective glass makes the drink appear tangible amid the broad blocks of colour.

Typography directs the eye in descending stages. The large imperative at the top establishes the brand name first; the claim “APÉRITIF SAIN ÉCONOMIQUE” then explains its advertised virtues; and the lower banner supplies the commercial identification “E. RIVIÈRE. Distillateur à Cognac (Charente)”. The shifts in scale are carefully calculated: the principal message can be grasped from a distance, while the smaller wording provides specificity at closer range. Figure, bottle and lettering therefore operate less as separate elements than as a single compact sales argument.

Context and significance

Publicité Wall’s design demonstrates how commercial artists could give an everyday beverage a distinctive personality without relying on naturalistic illustration. The simplified forms, crisp edges and forceful colour contrasts answer the practical demands of poster advertising, but the eccentric tree mascot adds humour and narrative. It appears almost to present the bottle itself, linking the phrase “au goudron de Norvège” to an instantly legible arboreal form.

Seen today, the health claim is also an intriguing record of its period’s consumer language. The combination of “healthy”, “economical” and apéritif places bodily vigour, thrift and sociability within the same brisk message. Yet it is the visual audacity of the poster—the startling red ground, the green walking tree and the ceremonially arranged glasses—that keeps this curious advertisement so immediate more than a century later.

Choosing the right size and finish

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The model in the listing images is holding the 18x24in (45x60cm) version of this art print.

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This artwork is also available as a float framed canvas, sometimes known as a shadow gap framed canvas or canvas floater. The work is printed on artist's cotton canvas and then stretched over a handmade box frame. We then "float" the canvas inside a wooden frame, which is available in a range of colours (black, dark brown, oak, antique gold and white). This is a wonderful way to present an art print without glazing in front. See some examples of float framed canvas art and explore the differences between my different finishes.