One of the very special gifts I’ve received from friends over the years was a set of limited edition etchings from the winemaking château Mouton Rothschild’s “Artist Label” series. Olivier Lebret, former president of the château, knew of my fascination with the history of the winemaker’s “Artist Label” series. One of the best, earliest and longest-standing case studies in the area of consumer-brand-&-artists collaborations.
Today, collaborations between visual artists and consumer brands can be found everywhere. Okay, maybe not everywhere but they have become quite common especially in the fashion/lifestyle/spirits sectors. Anyone thinking Jeff Koons-packaged vintage Dom Pérignon? Made in an edition of 650 plus 40 Artist Proofs in 2013, the packaging shell continues to be collected as an artwork in the secondary market today. (If you see one at an auction or an art fair, make sure the piece has the Dom Pérignon bottle intact, i.e. unopened, and is accompanied by the original custom flight case!)
And there’s 1800 Tequila, who has been collaborating with young upcoming artists through its Essential Artists series.
There are plenty more examples in beers, wines, whiskeys, and handbags — the list can go on and on. Some collaborations may be more brilliant than others. Some may look more like image licensing than collaboration. We will be exploring the world of art-&-brand-collaborations in due time. Meanwhile, we cannot help but to ask: WHO DID IT FIRST?
The investigation takes us to the French winemaking château of Mouton Rothschild, in the middle of the Médoc, 30 miles north-west of the city of Bordeaux. The year was 1924, and it marked not only the first (and the world’s longest-standing) collaboration between visual artists and a consumer brand but also the birth of the modern practice of winemakers’ labeling of their wine bottles. Yes, you read it correct. That was when “mis-en-boutéille” began.
Until 1924, as in every vineyard in the Médoc, Château Mouton Rothschild wine was sold in casks to a merchant in Bordeaux who became responsible for everything that happened afterwards: maturing, bottling, labeling and marketing. With no rights over the finished product, the owner took little interest in the appearance of the bottle. In 1924 Baron Philippe de Rothschild made a decision, revolutionary at the time, to bottle the entire harvest before it left the property.
From that time on, the label took on a new importance and a new function: it became the trademark, the proof of origin, the guarantee of quality and the signature of the vineyard.
It was the famous poster designer Jean Carlu he commisioned to design the label for the 1924 vintage. It remains today as one of the greatest examples of the Cubist influence in commercial art.
With the Liberation of France, to celebrate the return of the peace and to mark a new beginning, Baron Philippe conceived the idea of dedicating the vintage of 1945, one of the greatest of the century, to ‘Année de la Victoire, the year of the Victory.’ He commissioned the young painter Philippe Jullian to produce a graphic design based on the “V” sign made famous by Winston Churchill during the war. From then on, a contemporary artist was commissioned every year to create an original work to illustrate the label. The relationship between the artists and the owners of Mouton has always been based on friendship and trust. But also on mutual independence. Every artist is at liberty, following his own inspiration, to interpret the themes of the vine, the pleasure of drinking or the symbol of the Ram. Mouton is equally at liberty to reject a work if they consider it is not what they want or if it fails to fit the specific limitations of the label. (http://www.theartistlabels.com/)
Going through the Mouton Rothschild artist labels is an experience akin to flipping through a book on who’s who of modern art: you can see the labels bearing signatures of such luminaries as Picasso, Chagall, Miro, Dali, Kandinsky, Cocteau, Haring, Warhol, Koons and Kapoor.
Since 1945 to this day, the Artist Labels series has never skipped a year. Amazing continuity and dedication, in a world where brands come and go so fast. Consistency is one of the traits I admire the most in brands as well as in people.
Here are a few of my favorites.
Daisy Olivera: Which is the funniest or strangest story about the artists and the labels?
Baroness Philippine de Rothschild: For the 1993, we asked Balthus for a painting and he submitted a wonderful little nude, which we put on the label. When it came to the United States, a child abuse lobby accused me of kiddie porn. Can you imagine? (laughs) So, we had to sell the 1993 bottle with a blank label in the U.S. which, interestingly enough, has become a collectors’ item!
(excerpt from http://thedaisycolumn.com/home/?p=146)
It is interesting to observe how the labels support the Château’s brand marketing for the Chinese wine collectors market, emphasizing the connection between wine and art, and sensitivities toward the cultural elements that are significant for the Chinese. In 2008, the Château chose Chinese contemporary artist Xu Lei just in time for the 2008 Beijing Olympics (shown above, far right). Xu Lei is the second Chinese artist whose work was featured after calligrapher Gu Gan was featured back in 1996.
For the year 2000, the Château’s bottles featured a gold ram on the label, which especially appealed to Chinese buyers during the Year of the Ram.
Are the artists paid for the artwork?
According to the château, The artists are paid no money for their work, but given instead a certain number of cases of wine of two different years, obviously including the year they provided the label.
Who chooses the painter to illustrate the labels today?
Since 1988, Baroness Philippine has taken on the baton on artist selection and been continuing the family brand’s tradition.
Where are the original paintings created for these labels?
They are kept in a special room at the château, named “The Paintings for the Labels Room.” It is a living, breathing exhibit that grows by another painting every year. In 2009, over 60 of them traveled around the world in an exhibition titled, “Mouton Rothschild: Paintings for the Labels.”
Whenever I tell the story of Château Mouton Rothschild, I enjoy closing with this label, for 1990, featuring Francis Bacon’s painting — offering us a glass of ruby-red Bordeaux.
Santé!
Links:
For anyone interested in visiting the archive of the labels, I recommend this site. There is an amazing wealth of information for each label and the artist. With a glass in hand, just click: http://www.chateau-mouton-rothschild.com/label-art/discover-the-artwork (Which one’s your favorite?)
More about Mouton Rothschild’s art-and-heritage-focus marketing strategy to beat China’s bordeaux slump: http://jingdaily.com/chateau-mouton-rothschild-enlists-art-and-heritage-to-beat-chinas-bordeaux-slump/)
Another point of interest: http://jingdaily.com/artist-zhang-huans-confucian-wines-set-auction-record-at-sothebys-hong-kong/
