Celeste Yarnall Actress
The Miss Rheingold contest was the American Idol of its time. It formed part of the American iconographic geography and was part of the democratic consciousness. The contest was regarded as the biggest election, second only to the Presidency in the USA.
From 1940 - 1965 the Rheingold Beer Compamy would present a beautiful girl as its 'spokeswoman' for that year. The election process was devised to get the consumers involved in a mass advertising PR campaign, that changed the face of Advertising for the Modern Era.
Celeste Yarnall was the last elected Miss Rhiengold. The portrait of her from that period was created to suggest a contemporary interpretation of a Pop iconic manifestation, different from the Pop Art movement, yet resonant within the revival of an aesthetic sensibility as expressed in the TV Series Mad Men.....exploring the importance of Style over Substance.