Château Mouton Rothschild has tapped Portuguese artist Joana Vasconcelos to illustrate the label for its 2023 vintage, marking the first time the First Growth estate has commissioned an artist from Portugal.
Vasconcelos, internationally known for her monumental, brightly coloured installations, created an original artwork titled “Paraíso” for the release. The drawing centers on a cluster of grapes and incorporates natural elements such as earth, water, sunlight and nightfall, alongside geometric forms representing human craftsmanship — a composition meant to evoke the interplay between nature and winemaking at Mouton Rothschild.
“I felt privileged and honored to be part of such a great name, and of the ensemble of great artists who have participated in previous editions,” Vasconcelos said. “Paraíso is inspired by the idea of perfection, of luxury, and the coherence between nature and man.”
Vasconcelos, whose work has appeared at the Venice Biennale, Versailles Palace, Guggenheim Bilbao, and most recently at the Uffizi Galleries and Pitti Palace, is known for decontextualising everyday materials — such as embroidery, crochet and decorative objects — and blending craft traditions with contemporary cultural commentary.
Julien de Beaumarchais de Rothschild, co-owner of Château Mouton Rothschild and the family member responsible for its artistic programme, said he has followed Vasconcelos’s work for years, praising the “vision and joy” that characterise her installations.
“She uses traditional materials to create artworks that explore contemporary issues in a monumental, baroque, occasionally humorous and engaged way,” he said. “I really like that link between art and craft because it’s what we have at Château Mouton Rothschild… each vintage is unique, rare and hence precious.”
The commission continues a tradition begun by Baron Philippe de Rothschild in 1945, in which each vintage of Château Mouton Rothschild is illustrated by a different artist. The collection includes works by Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dalí, Andy Warhol, Francis Bacon, Marc Chagall, David Hockney and Jeff Koons, among others. All artworks are displayed in the estate’s “Paintings for the Labels” exhibition, permanently housed at Mouton since 2013.
Château Mouton Rothschild, located in Pauillac in the Médoc, spans 82 hectares and is planted predominantly with Cabernet Sauvignon. The estate remains one of Bordeaux’s most recognised First Growths and is managed today by the third generation of the Rothschild family.
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