Newcastle's John Gilroy, who was born in 1898 and died in 1985, is arguably most famous for the instantly-recognisable 1930s advertisements, "My Goodness, my Guinness" and "Guinness is good for you." But he was also a portrait painter, who, at the age of 82, painted the Queen of England, his other subjects included Pope XXIII, Winston Churchill, John Gielgud and Edward Heath.

In 1925 Gilroy embarked on his long association with the advertising agency S H Benson Ltd (Benson's). In 1928 Benson's won the Guinness advertising account and Gilroy became involved with the product with which his work is most closely associated. Gilroy's first known Guinness poster was produced in 1930. Working with copywriters like Ronald Barton and Robert Bevan, Gilroy produced more than 100 press advertisements and nearly 50 poster designs for Guinness over 35 years. He is perhaps best remembered for his posters featuring the girder carrier and the wood cutter from the Guinness for Strength campaigns of the early 1930s and for the Guinness animals. The animals, including a lion, toucan, gnu and kangaroo, appeared, with their long-suffering zookeeper, on posters, press advertisements, show cards and waiter trays from the 1930s to the 1960s.

Gilroy continued to produce Guinness advertisements well into the 1960s even though he left Benson's employment as an in-house artist in the 1940s to continue freelance work.

John Gilroy once said of his work: "The man in the street has no time for contemplation. My posters are, therefore, a kind of aesthetic meal-in-a-minute".

Back to Irish Art