A FITTING TRIBUTE
At the Cape Town Art Fair, Ruinart was proud to exhibit four works from Hubert
Le Gall’s installation, The Glass Calendar, in a space designed specifically to show the nature of his work to best effect. Le Gall says he initially found the commission challenging, and has spoken of visiting the Champagne region during the winter months, when the vines were not green and the sky was not blue.
However, he soon found inspiration in the Chardonnay – the grape variety the maison is famous for – finding its interplay with light and luminosity the perfect inspiration for The Glass Calendar. He wanted to pay tribute to the work of time, of the seasons and of man’s part in it too – eventually creating 12 sculptures, each representing a month of the year. It is, the artist insists, a story of men and nature. Le Gall’s choice of glass and of working with the Berengo Studio in Murano - whose ancestral knowledge and expertise match that of Ruinart itself – is a perfect fit for such a storied Maison de Champagne.
May 2016
The House of Ruinart
At a luncheon with Wanted editor Alexander Parker and Wanted publisher Aspasia Karras, Ruinart president Frédéric Dufour hosted local artists at the Cape Town Art Fair as part of the Champagne Maison's collaboration with art events worldwide
Much-loved Maison Ruinart, established in 1729, is France’s oldest Champagne house. Ever in search of truth, founder Dom Ruinart lived with the single powerful philosophy: never compromise where quality is concerned. In just half a decade, as president of Maison Ruinart, Frédéric Dufour has brought his international outlook and desire to further penetrate growing markets to bear, elevating the company’s profile and establishing Ruinart, once again, as a most desirable Champagne.
“Over the years we have responded accordingly to the demand for our Champagne around the world, including SA, which is a vastly growing market for us,” Dufour said. Maison Ruinart’s dedication to quality stretches beyond creating fine wines – for more than a century, Ruinart has been committed to the Contemporary Arts movement and has had a major role in numerous
international art events such as Arco, Foire de Bâle, Carré Rive Gauche, London Design and Miami Art Basel.
To commemorate the 120th anniversary of founder André Ruinart’s
commissioning of Czech artist Alphonse Mucha – who created a Belle Époque advertising poster-Dufour commissioned renowned French artist and sceno-grapher Hubert Le Gall to honour the auspicious occasion.
The work, titled The Glass Calendar, was presented for the first time in SA at the 2016 Cape Town Art Fair. Le Gall’s installation pays tribute to the passage of time, marked by the rhythm of the seasons through a series of 12 glass
sculptures that represent the months of the year. According to Dufour, “The
purity in Le Gall’s pieces is evocative of the poetry of Ruinart; he managed to perfectly mirror the Champagne’s complex clarity.”
The next Ruinart artist collaboration will celebrate the appointment of the
Maison Ruinart chateau, vineyards and cellars as a Unesco world heritage. The team awarded the honour to Dutch artist Erwin Olaf. “Erwin has an exceptional eye for strange detail, very different; he has captured our cellars in a way we have never seen them before,” Dufour said.
A FITTING TRIBUTE
At the Cape Town Art Fair, Ruinart was proud to exhibit four works from Hubert
Le Gall’s installation, The Glass Calendar, in a space designed specifically to show the nature of his work to best effect. Le Gall says he initially found the commission challenging, and has spoken of visiting the Champagne region during the winter months, when the vines were not green and the sky was not blue.
However, he soon found inspiration in the Chardonnay – the grape variety the maison is famous for – finding its interplay with light and luminosity the perfect inspiration for The Glass Calendar. He wanted to pay tribute to the work of time, of the seasons and of man’s part in it too – eventually creating 12 sculptures, each representing a month of the year. It is, the artist insists, a story of men and nature. Le Gall’s choice of glass and of working with the Berengo Studio in Murano - whose ancestral knowledge and expertise match that of Ruinart itself – is a perfect fit for such a storied Maison de Champagne.