Émile Berchmans’ Distillerie de l’Helice, dated 1896, turns an advertisement for wines and spirits into an assured study in colour, silhouette and graphic rhythm. A red-haired woman dominates the tall composition, seen in profile as she raises a small glass towards her face. Her high-collared white dress forms a luminous interval between the deep reds, cool blues and muted greens around her, while broad passages of lettering anchor the scene above and below. The result is immediately legible as commercial art, yet carefully balanced enough to hold the eye beyond its message.

Berchmans was a Belgian artist whose elegant commercial imagery belonged to a flourishing late nineteenth-century culture of illustrated advertising. Posters had become increasingly prominent within the modern city, where an effective design needed to communicate quickly amid crowded streets and competing signs. Here, Berchmans brings together the attractions of the fashionable figure, the poised tasting gesture and emphatic typography. Industry is not represented through machinery or production, but through refinement: the distillery’s identity is conveyed by the cultivated presentation of its drinks and the polish of the design itself.

A closer look

The woman’s profile provides the poster with its clearest visual axis. Her pale face and dress are outlined crisply against the more saturated background, and the folds of her clothing are described with only a few economical lines. A dark band across her hat intensifies the brightness of her hair, while the glass introduces a small, concentrated note of golden colour. Her hand and gaze converge upon this single object, making the act of tasting the quiet centre of the composition.

Around her, the setting is suggested rather than fully described. Pale blue at the upper left opens into an airy distance, meeting areas of soft green that resemble low hills. At the upper right, rounded coloured forms create a denser decorative counterweight. These simplified shapes resist illusionistic depth; instead, they operate as flat zones of colour, allowing warm reds and oranges to press forward against cooler blue and green. The asymmetric arrangement feels lively without becoming disorderly, with the figure drawing the separate elements into a coherent whole.

The lower part of the poster shifts decisively from illustration to announcement. An orange field carries the words “LIQUEURS FINES VINS SPIRITOUEUX” in forceful stylised lettering, establishing a strong base beneath the figure. Nearby, a motif of elongated blades radiating from a circular hub gives visual form to the distillery’s name: hélice, or propeller. Smaller inscriptions include “RUE DES BAYARDS. 1” and “A. BENARD LIEGE”, details that root the otherwise decorative design in a specific commercial address and urban setting. Variations in letter size, weight and colour create their own rhythm, ensuring that information becomes part of the composition rather than an afterthought.

Context and significance

Distillerie de l’Helice belongs to a period when the boundary between fine and applied art was being redrawn by posters, magazines and other forms of public graphic culture. The advertising poster offered artists an unusually direct relationship with a broad audience, demanding both visual economy and instant recognition. Berchmans answers that challenge through broad colour areas, firm contours and a figure whose elegant pose communicates pleasure without the need for narrative complexity.

What gives the design its lasting interest is the precision with which its commercial and decorative functions coincide. The raised glass, radiant blade emblem and emphatic lower inscription each deliver part of the message, yet none feels isolated from the larger visual scheme. It is an advertisement built not from abundance, but from a small number of memorable shapes—profile, glass, propeller and lettering—held together by an unusually vivid orchestration of warm and cool colour.

Choosing the right size and finish

Artwork can feel intimate at smaller sizes and dramatically more architectural at larger ones. Use the room preview, model image and size guide to see how the proportions and scale will work in your space.

If you need an exact size, specialist framing or help planning a larger display, ask our workshop for advice.

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

Where personalisation is available, you can add a short title or dedication, or one considered visual detail. See examples of personalised artwork.

Choose Original to retain the colour and character of the source artwork, or Aged for a warmer, more antique appearance. See examples of our Aged artwork.

Every piece is produced to archival standards using fade-resistant pigment inks on acid-free matte art paper. Choose an art print, framed art print or framed canvas using the finish options above.

Framed art prints use crystal-clear optical acrylic for excellent clarity, lower weight and safer delivery than glass. Each piece arrives professionally framed and ready to hang.

Selected artworks can be produced at statement sizes up to 3 metres (10ft). Custom sizing and specialist framing are also available. If the exact option you need is not listed, contact our workshop.

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.