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Xu Bing illustrates the label of Château Mouton Rothschild 2018
Each year since 1945, a famous artist has created an original artwork for the label of Château Mouton Rothschild, with complete freedom as to the design.
The owners of Château Mouton Rothschild, Philippe Sereys de Rothschild, Camille Sereys de Rothschild and Julien de Beaumarchais de Rothschild, commissioned the label for the 2018 vintage from the Chinese artist and writer Xu Bing (b. 1955).
The artwork for the 2018 label reflects the artist’s work on the illusory splendour of appearances as manifested by his Square Word Calligraphy, which resembles traditional Chinese characters but is actually composed of the letters of the Latin alphabet. Xu Bing expresses his linguistic creativity in the invention of a unique script in which the words are absorbed into the codes of traditional Chinese ideography.
In this coalescence of cultures, the label for the 2018 vintage features the two words “Mouton Rothschild”.
The 2018 vintage, of exceptional quality, is already set to be one of Château Mouton Rothschild’s finest successes. The wine reveals an intense colour, an excellent tannic structure, remarkable heft and a creamy texture, as well as a rare concentration of aromas and flavours.
The label for such an exceptional vintage required an artist equal to the challenge, whose style would be as unique and distinctive as that of Château Mouton Rothschild and whose artworks would stand the test of time in the same way as a fine wine.
“When I discovered Xu Bing, I was captivated by him as an inventor of signs endowed with incredible poetic power. And then I said to myself that our labels were also signs, each work of art referring to a year: the 1973 vintage can also be called the ‘Picasso Mouton’, just as the 2018 vintage will be called the ‘Xu Bing Mouton’,” said Julien de Beaumarchais de Rothschild.
Considered to be one of the most important contemporary Chinese artists, Xu Bing majored in print making at the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing and started practising calligraphy from an early age. His works have been exhibited at the British Museum, London, the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Washington, D.C., and the Museum of Modern Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, amongst other renowned institutions. Some of his most celebrated works include monumental sculptures and installations such as Book from the Sky, Phoenix and Background Stories.
“I have long been aware of the close connection between Château Mouton Rothschild and art. In 2013, I had the good fortune to be invited to Mouton Rothschild by Baroness Philippine de Rothschild. I was impressed by her energy, her warm personality and her knowledge of the arts. She said that one day I should create a label for Mouton Rothschild. So when Julien de Beaumarchais de Rothschild contacted me to illustrate the label for the vintage 2018, I took it as both an honour and an opportunity to pay tribute,” said Xu Bing.
William Kentridge illustrates the label of Château Mouton Rothschild 2016
Every year since 1945, a great artist has illustrated the label of Château Mouton Rothschild. Thus, the most famous names in contemporary art are brought together in a collection to which a new work is added each year.
The owners of Mouton, Philippe Sereys de Rothschild, Camille Sereys de Rothschildand Julien de Beaumarchais de Rothschild, gave the commission for the 2016 vintageto the painter, sculptor, video artist and stage director William Kentridge. Born at Johannesburg in South Africa in 1955, William Kentridge is the first internationally renowned artist from the African continent to illustrate a Mouton label. Exhibiting in the world’s leading galleries and the winner of prestigious prizes, he asserts a “political art” that is nevertheless open to both humour and poetry.
In his work for Mouton, The Triumphs of Bacchus, the silhouettes he assembles in a joyful procession are inspired by Bacchic characters from the paintings of great masters from Titian to Matisse, underlining the truth that a great wine, although first and foremost a pleasure, is also inseparable from a cultural tradition which demands respect and moderation – not least Château Mouton Rothschild 2016!
Château Mouton Rothschild’s, first-ever wine auction in Asia achieves HK$32 million / US$4.1 million at Sotheby’s Hong Kong on January 30th. More than double pre-sale estimate – 100% sold – 93% of lots sold above high estimate
Top lot
A rare 66-Bottle vertical (1945 – 2012) sold online for HK$2.94 million / US$376,900 close to three times low estimate.
Château Mouton Rothschild’s first-ever wine auction in Asia – Château Mouton Rothschild : concluded this evening at Sotheby’s Hong Kong Gallery. Following rounds of intense bidding in the room, on the phone and online, the sale achieved a 100% sell-through rate, with 93% of the lots sold above their high estimates, realising a remarkable total of HK$32 million / US$4.1 million (Est. HK$13 – 20 million / US$1.6 – 2.5 million*), more than doubling the pre-sale estimate.
Leading the sale is a rare 66-bottle vertical spanning 68 vintages from 1945 to 2012 (excluding the 1958 and 1963) which sold for HK$2.94 million / US$376,900. The vintage of 2000 performed extremely well: A nebuchadnezzar (15-litre bottle) of this remarkable vintage was sold for close to HK$1 million, more than double its low estimate, while another lot that celebrates the New Millennium with 6 bottles, 6 magnums, a jeroboam, an imperial and a nebuchadnezzar also achieved an impressive price of HK$1.72 million / US$219,900, more than double its low estimate.
This is the first time the Bordeaux First Growth presented an wine auction in Asia, which serves as a tribute to the enthusiasm of Mouton lovers in the region. The Château considers this a perfect timing, for the sale took place right before the start of the New Lunar Year of the Ram – the emblem of the Château. The burgeoning demand of increasingly sophisticated connoisseurs in the region, whose number has been rapidly growing in Asia in recent years, is another reason.
The auction is also significant as a commemoration of the life of the late Baroness Philippine de Rothschild (1933 – 2014), who had devoted much of her time, her energy and her life to the glory of Château Mouton Rothschild. A large part of the sale proceeds will benefit The Baroness Philippine de Rothschild Foundation for the Arts – a non-profit operation recently set up by the Baroness’ three children – Camille Sereys de Rothschild, Philippe Sereys de Rothschild and Julien de Beaumarchais de Rothschild – in memory of their mother. The Foundation will encourage and defend the creative impulse, in theatre, film and other performing arts, which were the Baroness’ professional and personal commitments for many years.
Commenting on Mouton Rothschild’s first-ever wine sale in Asia, Philippe Sereys de Rothschild, Chairman of the Supervisory Board, present in Hong Kong with his sister and his brother, as well as Jean-Pierre de Beaumarchais, Baroness Philippine de Rothschild’s husband, stated: “We were especially thrilled with the result of this sale that exceeded our expectations. It is clearly the wine professionals’ and collectors’ recognition of our mother’s lifelong involvement in ensuring the quality and enhancing the reputation of Château Mouton Rothschild throughout the world. Thus, we look forward to the years to come with great enthusiasm.”
Serena Sutcliffe, Master of Wine (MW), International Head of Sotheby’s Wine, adds, “It was an honour to bring this unique auction to Asia and these extraordinary wines took flight over the five hours of the sale. It was a tribute to Baroness Philippine and the legacy she left at Mouton, which is now in the hands of her children who will take it into the future. We were proud to see some of the greatest Bordeaux ever made go to Asia’s most discerning connoisseurs who will enjoy and treasure these fabulous bottles – and nebuchadnezzars!”
Commenting on the sale result, Jamie Ritchie, CEO & President of Sotheby’s Wine, Americas & Asia, says, “The record prices achieved in this auction showed Asian collectors’ great appreciation of Mouton Rothschild and the perfect direct-from-the-property provenance. With 93% of the lots selling above the high estimates and a sale total of HK$32 million / US$4.1 million, 2.5 times above the low estimate, this exceeded our highest expectations and shows the strength of the market for wines with perfect provenance presented in Sotheby’s single-owner sale format.”
Numerous auction records were set, including :
World record for a Château Mouton Rothschild vertical at auction :
– A 66-bottle vertical spanning 68 Château Mouton Rothschild vintages from 1945 to 2012 (excluding the 1958 and 1963) (HK$ 2,94 million / US$ 376,900)
World record for this wine at this format at auction :
- Château Mouton Rothschild 2000, 1 nabuchadnezzar (HK$ 918,750 / US$ 117,788)
– Château Mouton Rothschild 1945, 1 magnum (HK$ 857,500 / US$ 109,936)
– Château Mouton Rothschild 1945, 2 bottles (HK$ 735,000 / US$ 94,231)
– Château Mouton Rothschild 1982, 6 magnums (HK$ 441,000 / US$ 56,538)
– Château Mouton Rothschild 1870, 1 bottle (HK$ 392,000 / US$ 50,256)
– Château Mouton Rothschild 1959, 3 bottles (HK$ 367,500 / US$ 47,115)
– Château Mouton Rothschild 1961, 3 bottles (HK$ 196,000 / US$ 25,284)
Miquel Barceló illustrates the label of Château Mouton Rothschild 2012
Every year since 1945, a great artist has illustrated the label of Château Mouton Rothschild. Thus, the most famous names in contemporary art are brought together in a collection to which a new work is added each year.
The illustration of the 2012 vintage was chosen personally by Baroness Philippine de Rothschild, who died on 22 August 2014. The commission was given to the Catalan painter and sculptor Miquel Barceló. Born in 1957, he is the creator of a universe that is both realistic and dreamlike, a realm of intense colour in which combinations of techniques and different materials give striking relief to the subject matter. His fresco for Mouton 2012 revisits the Château’s historical emblem. Its two rams, symmetrical and face-to-face, are a reminder that the balance and harmony of a great wine, already present in nature, still set a challenge to be met by the work of human hands.