Conclusion

All in all, I think it was very interesting to look at the different areas tiki appears in, not only graphical but in fine art, similar ways of advertising and its icons like Don Beach and Gil Elvgren.

I realized how much the attractiveness of women was used in advertising to get the attention of the ‘head of the family’, to sell a product. The creation of trigger points that ensures an instant recognition of a product, like Coca Cola was an important part of their strategy.

Further, Tiki and the Polynesian style did not only influence commercial art, but also fine art and so one of the most admired artists, Picasso. As he took inspiration from Tiki masks and figures, which are the ‘icons’ for any Tiki themed bar or restaurant, he almost reinvented them in his own, unique way.

 

Picasso's African Period

The influence of the exotic was not only limited to its appearance in commercial art and activity. In fine art too we find the influence of the "exotic" coming into prominence. Even Picasso’s paintings were strongly influenced by African masks between 1907 and 1909.He abstracted the figures in his  portraits and interpreted the faces as African  masks. To achieve this look he used the features of the originals: round shapes, long and oval faces and very angular noses almost triangular looking.

Farm woman , 1907

Head of a man, 1908

The first painting illustrated  has really contrasting colours, which separate  the upper part from the  lower part of the painting. Dark colours like brown and black become lighter with yellow tones and then a light blue which slowly develops into dark again. It uses  a flow of dark to light and back to dark again.

Black and darker coloured strokes of paint create shadows and give the portrait a strong 3D effect.

For the second painting Picasso  used dark colours for the main parts but also yellow and white to create  contrasts to give the painting more three dimensionality. I think the shapes he used are very simplistic and all the lines connected, which makes it seem very complicated and busy at first look but then you realise as a viewer how easy and simply the lines are arranged. Further, Picasso's style of painting is very lose, fluid  and almost effortless.

 

Head of a man, 1907

Head of a woman, 1908

These other two paintings are more dominated by  yellow and the paint strokes are obviously visible. Again the distinctive nose of the man and woman create the focus  of the painting. I like the boldness of the first painting as it is very intense through the use of black on yellow and everything seems to be painted a lot bigger than it is in reality.

The second portrait is a lot more harmonious and looks calmer compared to the first. The contrasting use of colour is less, and also the lines are less hard, even though shadows remain a key element. I think his art works show that Tiki does not only work for advertisements and graphical art, but also in many other ways. 

Don the Beachcomber

Donn Beach, born Ernest Raymond Beaumont Gantt was the father of all Tiki restaurant, bars and clubs. His first restaurant was called Don's Beachcomber Cafe and so his name evolved from Don the Beach-Comber to Don the beachcomber and finally to Don Beach.

After he had left his home in Texas he traveled the world, enjoying  especially the islands of the Caribbean and the South Pacific. Here he found  the inspiration to decorate his bar in tropical style and serve strong Rum cocktails. Because it was so different, an escape from  daily life, his restaurant became popular very quickly,even in  celebrity circles. Every Tiki establishment, which opened afterwards was based on his initial tiki concept.

Don Beach's  first restaurant in Los Angeles just off the Hollywood Boulevard, decorated with bamboo, exotic plants and a few exotic  items that he collected on his travels. I quite like it, because sometimes I have the feeling the Tiki themed bars and restaurants overdo the Polynesian style so it becomes  overwhelming. 

This is one of the first Cocktail menus from  Don the Beachcomber's  bar. It is very simply  produced in black in white as was usual back in those  days, however  illustrations of the different cocktails  frame  the menu, which makes it look interesting even in  its simplicity.

For comparison with this  very old menu, I searched for a more recent one, which is a lot more colourful and focuses on general tiki illustrations in addition to those of every cocktail. I like the fact that you exactly know what you will get before you order it. The playful illustrations of little figures around some of the cocktails suggest  the relaxed atmosphere  which tiki is all about.

Gil Elvgren

As I looked into Pin up advertising, I had to mention one of the greatest Pin up artists of all time, Gil Elvgren. Born in Saint Paul, Minnesota in 1914, his work is said to be one of the most important in pin up and glamour art of the twentieth century. He was active from 1930s to the 1970s and today he is best known for his work for Brown and Bigelow.

His work for coca cola was less of picturing the female fatale but the girl next door, being refreshingly innocent and caught in everyday situations, which made them so real and attractive to men.

I also found one that is very summery and looks very similar to the tiki advertisments I mentioned earlier. Her floral patterned dress and the palm tree create the instant connection to a holiday on Hawaii again.

Pop Art and Pin up girls

When Tiki emerged in the mid 20 th century, one element most commonly seen in general advertising was the use of the female form to attract attention. This element was used in the advertising of various products including cigarettes, Coca Cola, washing powder and stockings. In all of them young, good looking women play the main role to attract the attention mostly of men as they were usually the head of the family.

Vintage coca cola advertisements used the same technique as the early Tiki related advertisements I have looked at. The main features in these advertising campaigns were paintings of, used in the same way as photographs are now. It was important to place the Coca Cola brand name on the posters to create an immediate recognition factor. These days, this logo has become iconic and is one of the first symbols that young  children can remember. Since the emergence of the Coca Cola brand its logo has  never changed in a major way except between 1890 - 1891when they tried something different, with  an extra swirly script  added.

 

 But the company reverted  after just one year  to the old font we all know. This shows that the consistency of the logo throughout all the years that it has been trading has created a huge brand awareness all over the world.

These two painted posters are made in a similar way, seductive females enjoying  coke.

They are charming and embody the perfect and morally upright wifely European woman unlike the sexually available wahines in  the Hawaii advertisements. Instead of relying on the appeal  of the exotic, they used the beauty of 'home'. Hawaii is far off and  unattainable for most, whereas you can allow yourself a coke at any time. Coca Cola seems to use a similar way to Tiki advertisements, they get the costumer into the ‘mood’ of a Coca Cola by using these trigger points in their mind.