 His drawing for Mouton takes up the classic theme of the ram, the emblem of the
Château. Perched on top of a delicately delineated rock, his ram asserts the role
of a great wine as a link between people and cultures, from one hemisphere to the
other of planet wine.
Born in 1963, the resident of Beijing, Lei combines the Chinese pictorial tradition and Western modernity. He is artistic director of the Today Art Museum, an important
museum of contemporary art, in the Chinese capital. Known throughout the world, Xu Lei's work has been shown in Europe, USA and his native China.
Since 1945, every vintage of Château Mouton Rothschild every vintage has been illustrated with an original art work by a great contemporary painter. In 1924, Baron Philippe de Rothschild had the famous poster designer Jean Carlu create the Mouton label to celebrate and salute his first vintage bottled entirely at the château,. However, he was ahead of his time and the initiative remained in isolation. However, in 1945, he revived it to mark the end of World War II with the "V" for Victory, drawn by the then young painter Philippe Jullian.
Initially, Baron Philippe chose painters from amongst his friends, such as Jean Hugo and Jean Cocteau. In 1955, Georges Braque agreed to illustrate the vintage. He was followed by great artists like Dali, César, Miró, Chagall, Picasso, Warhol and etc. according to the company Press Release announcing the release of this year’s label.
Late Baron’s daughter, Baroness Philippine de Rothschild started getting the artists to paint for the Chateau in the 1980s. Prince Charles gave his painting for the 2004 edition. The artists receive no fee for their work but are given the Chateau wines of Mouton Rothschild.
Over the last couple of decades, the collection has formed the basis for an exhibition, "Paintings for the Labels", and is shown in many museums throughout the world.
For earlier related articles click
Prince Charles’s Painting on Mouton’04 label
2005 Mouton-Rothschild Labelled |