“Paraíso”: Portuguese art finds its place at Mouton Rothschild

An artwork by Joana Vasconcelos to illustrate the label of Château Mouton Rothschild 2023

Château Mouton Rothschild has unveiled the artist chosen to illustrate the label of its 2023 vintage (rated 100/100 by our team during the En Primeur tastings). For the first time since 1945, a Portuguese artist, Joana Vasconcelos, signs the original work destined to join the prestigious collection initiated by Baron Philippe de Rothschild. Entitled Paraíso, her creation marks a new encounter between the world of contemporary art and that of a Premier Grand Cru Classé, Pauillac.
Renowned for her monumental, immersive and colourful installations, Joana Vasconcelos has here chosen to take on an entirely new challenge by working on the intimate scale of a wine label. Her drawing brings together the elements essential to the birth of a great wine: earth, water, sunlight, night-time freshness, and the hand of humankind, represented by a triangle symbolising human intervention within the natural cycle. The composition, shaped by forms and colours reminiscent of a puzzle, places the vine at the heart of a true “paradise”, an explicit nod to the Mouton Rothschild terroir and to the Portuguese term Paraíso.

Joana Vasconcelos explains that she was guided by an idea of perfection and harmony between humanity and nature. Her joyful and vibrant universe, enriched by years devoted to the graphic arts, finds here a new space for expression. Julien de Beaumarchais de Rothschild, who oversees artistic relations for the estates, has long expressed his admiration for her work, notably since her acclaimed exhibition at the Château de Versailles in 2012. He sees in her approach, which blends artisanal tradition with contemporary creation, a profound echo of the making of a great wine, the result of expertise that is at once technical, precise and deeply rooted in human craftsmanship.

Joana Vasconcelos’s international career, marked by major exhibitions from Venice to Bilbao, from Versailles to Florence, has established her as one of the most influential artists of her generation. With Paraíso, she joins a distinguished list of artists who have collaborated with Mouton Rothschild, including Picasso, Miró, Chagall, Warhol, Soulages and Koons. This new opus continues a long-standing tradition in which each vintage also becomes a work of art, reflecting the ongoing dialogue between creation and wine.