Château Mouton Rothschild reveals 2018 label by Chinese artist Xu Bing

The 2018 label by Chinese artist Xu Bing. Source: Château Mouton Rothschild

Over the years, the works of some of the world’s most celebrated artists have graced the labels of Château Mouton Rothschild’s first wine. The first instance was for the 1924 vintage, when the French artist Jean Carlu created an eye-catching cubism-inspired design featuring the same quiver of arrows and ram’s head which any fan of Mouton Rothschild will still be familiar with today. But it wasn’t until 1945 that the commissioning of a unique design by a different artist would become an annual tradition. Salvador Dali (1958), Pablo Picasso (1973), Andy Warhol (1975) and even HRH Prince Charles, Prince of Wales (2004) who created a watercolor to celebrate the 100th Anniversary of the Entente Cordiale have all leant their talents to the creation of these labels, the announcement of which has now become an eagerly awaited annual event.

Today the artist for the 2018 vintage was revealed - Xu Bing, an artist and author from China. Born in Chongqing in 1955, Xu Bing attended the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing, of which he would later become Vice-President and where he still teaches today. He spends his life between Beijing and New York, where he lived for many years before returning to his homeland.

The artwork for the 2018 label features Bing’s unique style which he calls Square Word Calligraphy. On first blush, the incredibly intricate script appears to the reader as traditional Chinese characters but in fact they are words composed of the letters of the Latin alphabet. Xu Bing’s characters are designed to disclose themselves to the attentive reader one after the other, in the same way that the aromas and flavors of a very fine wine, with patience, are also gradually revealed.

This most recent label features two words, which we invite you to enjoy and decipher yourselves.