Matter of Taste

matter of taste | | art & soul
when
pA lAte
meets
pA pa let te
A glA ss or two of wine hA s provided creA tive lubricA tion to
A rtists throughout history, A nd on occA sion feA tured in their
endeA vors. Diana D ’ a renberg nominA tes eight mA s t e r p i e c e s
thA t celebrA te the bottled muse in pA int
Art And Alcohol hAve long
enjoyed a tense relationship that has
inspired creativity but also, sadly,
sometimes destroyed it. there are
songs dedicated to wine, poems
written under its influence and
countless paintings inspired by its
loosening of the creative cogs. But
while wine has fuelled the imaginations
of many accomplished artists, it has
also been the actual subject, or played
a significant role, in several works of
art, from religious images in chapels
and churches to contemporary pieces
commanding top prices at auction.
Alcohol, in fact, defined an entire
era of painting in the late 19th century,
when the bohemian demimonde of
Paris ran fast and loose (remember
the hollow-eyed faces of excess
staring out at us in works by henri de
toulouse-lautrec). the happy marriage
of art and wine, however, was perhaps
best celebrated in 1945, when Baron
Philippe de rothschild began to
commission artists to design winebottle
labels. An art collector himself,
rothschild commissioned some of the
greatest modern and contemporary
artists, including Pablo Picasso, Marc
chagall, Jean cocteau, Salvador dali,
Francis Bacon and lucien Freud.
Just last year, in fact, neo pop
artist Jeff Koons’ design for the 2010
vintage was unveiled. currently, this
is the most expensive of the Pauillac
first-growth château’s last 10 vintages,
recently trading at more than US$9,000
for a 12-bottle case.
And once you’ve filled the cellar with
such fine tipples, perhaps it’s time to
adorn its bare walls. Matter of Taste’s
money-no-object wish list of eight
wine-friendly paintings from history
follows, taking in everything from
the creative innovations of the 15th
and 16th century renaissance to the
experimentally cubist and the boldly
expressionist to the gloriously irreverent
pop art of the 1960s and ’70s.
0 7 8