To say that art and advertising are uneasy bedfellows is probably an understatement.
A common criticism of today’s digital marketers is that, in their data-driven, algorithm-obsessed world, they’re only interested in creative mediums as thirst traps for the attention economy – where our time and personal information is the most valuable resource on Earth.

On the flipside, popular culture commentators point out that critics rather snootily deride any art that’s embraced by the masses and makes money for its creator – while lionising the stereotypical artists who struggles for recognition during her lifetime but is then celebrated by the establishment decades or centuries later.

But the truth is that art and advertising have been closely related for generations and some of our greatest artworks and artists weren’t nearly as precious about this association as we may have imagined.

In the spirit of bridging this gap, here’s a brief history of art and advertising.

Song Dynasty China, 960-1279AD
If your bedside book collection includes China: Five Thousand Years of History and Civilisation, you might already be familiar with the National Chinese History Museum’s Song-era bronze-plate printed ad for ‘Liu’s Gongfu Needle Shop in Ji’nan’.

With a central motif of a jade hare pounding medicine as a pestle, it certainly has aesthetic value, and its accompanying text reassures potential customers that the proprietors ‘purchase high quality steel bars for the needles’.

For us, this is an excellent example of an early advertising artefact that also qualifies as art.

Renaissance Florence, 14th to 16thC
For some art enthusiasts, the paintings, sculptures and buildings of Renaissance Italy represent the pinnacle of human artistic achievement.

Yet some of the breath-taking artworks spawned by this cultural movement can arguably also be classed as advertisements.

Take Benozzo Gozzoli’s famous frescos in the Palazzo Medici Riccardi’s Magi Chapel in Florence as fine examples. Commissioned by the powerful Medici family’s patriarch Piero, they cleverly (and somewhat controversially) include family members, close friends and allies in the Magi’s Biblical procession. By successfully blending political propaganda and mytho-historical revisionism, Gozzoli became both spin doctor and artist.

Contemporary Scotland
Art and advertising blend brilliantly in Scottish contemporary culture – just think of the gorgeous retro typography and striking stripes of a Tunnock’s Caramel Wafer wrapper or the visual artistry and cultural cachet of generations of Barr’s Irn-Bru TV ads.

And further, order a pint of Innis and Gunn Lager in any pub and it’ll probably be served in a (much stolen) iconic glass garnished with stunning sylvan decoration.

Meanwhile, commercial designers like SNS Group uphold this tradition of elevating advertising to artwork with projects influenced by everything from minimalist cartoons to cubism.

While the earnest efforts of great artists have an impact that can’t be quantified in commercial terms alone, it’s also true that there’s also been an intimate relationship between art and advertising for generations.

And finally, if you’re thinking of expanding your portfolio, it’s worth remembering that an attractive Tunnock’s biscuit wrapper is much cheaper than say, one of Jeff Koons’ balloon dog sculptures – and arguably has more artistic merit.