PAUILLAC.- Baron Philippe de Rothschild wondered in his autobiography Vivre la Vigne, published in 1981, whether anyone would think to celebrate the centenary of his arrival at Château Mouton Rothschild.

His question has been answered: the label for Château Mouton Rothschild 2022, illustrated with an original artwork by the French artist Gérard Garouste, is indeed the tribute that Baron Philippe had hoped for.

Baron Philippe de Rothschild took the helm of the estate in 1922, and to celebrate the anniversary of a founding moment in its history, Gérard Garouste, in his own symbolic, phantasmagorical way, has created a sort of heraldic banner for Mouton Rothschild, its front wall framed by a portrait of Baron Philippe and a ram, his well-known emblem.

Gérard Garouste drew his inspiration from conversations with Julien de Beaumarchais de Rothschild and from the photographs of Baron Philippe he was shown. After playing with various ideas in his sketchbooks, the idea of a portrait of Baron Philippe, accompanied by the symbols of the ram, the front wall and the vine, soon came to the fore. The work took shape as a gouache which he naturally chose to call Hommage au Baron Philippe [Tribute to Baron Philippe].

“It was really my discussions with Julien de Beaumarchais de Rothschild that inspired me; I wanted to know more about his grandfather’s amazing life. He showed me lots of photos, and the man’s physical presence really spoke to me as a painter. It was clear that I had my model. I was greatly attracted by his character, not least because elegance is something I set great store by. Baron Philippe was a man of great elegance, very hard-working, and he had the look of someone very sure of himself, with a mischievous side. That is what I have tried to capture in the way I have portrayed him.

I find it fascinating that Baron Philippe chose the ram's head as a symbol, as it features in both Greek and biblical mythology. The front wall is a symbol for Mouton Rothschild. I also included the fruit of the vine, and all the symbolism of a wonderful wine that was his life's work. I wanted to pay tribute to that story, to his respect for wine, which is also a tribute to nature as it is given to us.” --Gérard Garouste

Julien de Beaumarchais de Rothschild – co-owner of Château Mouton Rothschild, responsible for the estate’s artistic and cultural activity and relations with artists – shares his vision of the work created in tribute to his grandfather:

“Gérard Garouste’s painting can be read like a kind of heraldic banner: it needs to be deciphered. It comprises three very powerful images: the ram, the front wall of Château Mouton Rothschild and the portrait of Baron Philippe.

It all starts with an encounter: that of Baron Philippe with the front wall, which has always been a singular feature of Mouton Rothschild. From that encounter sprang a symbol which expresses and transcends them both: the ram, the dual embodiment of Baron Philippe, whose astrological sign was Aries, and of Mouton Rothschild, reflecting both its name and its vital energy. For me the label tells the story of a metamorphosis.”

A leading French painter, Gérard Garouste is a stand-out figure on the international art scene.

He takes a keen interest in the roots of western culture, the legacy of the old masters and the myths that are the springboard for his work on “dismantling images and words” and his fascination with questions of origins, time and transmission. His paintings are born of associations of ideas; now unsettling, now joyful, they teem with sometimes fantastical animals and human figures with distorted bodies. His sources range from the Old Testament to popular culture and literary greats such as Cervantes and Rabelais.

Born in 1946, Gérard Garouste lives and works in Normandy and Paris. He studied in Gustave Singier’s studio at the Paris School of Fine Arts from 1965 to 1972. In 1977 he put on a show at the Paris night-club Le Palace called Le Classique et l’Indien, of which he was the author, director and stage designer. He continued to work at Le Palace as a scenographer and painter until 1982. The first exhibition of his figurative, mythological and allegorical paintings at the Durand-Dessert gallery in 1980 marked the start of national then international recognition. Gérard Garouste has displayed his work all over the world, notably in the United States, Japan, Germany, Latin America and Italy, and his art features in leading public collections such as the National Museum of Modern Art – Centre Georges Pompidou and the City of Paris Modern Art Museum in France and the Museum of Modern Art Ludwig Foundation in Vienna. He has received many public commissions, including from the Elysée Palace, Évry Cathedral, Namur Royal Theatre, Mons City Hall, Notre-Dame de Talant and for the stage curtain of the Châtelet Theatre in Paris.

In 2009, he published an autobiographical memoir co-written with Judith Perrignon, L’Intranquille, which became a huge critical and public success. He has also illustrated many art books and collector’s items, including Don Quichotte (Éditions Diane de Selliers) and La Haggada aux quatre visages (Éditions In Press, translation by Rivon Krygier).

In 2017, Gérard Garouste was elected to the Paris Academy of Fine Arts, succeeding Georges Mathieu. In 2019, he was raised to the rank of Commander of the National Order of Merit.

Gérard Garouste’s work has been the subject of many exhibitions, including retrospectives at the Kunsthalle Düsseldorf (1989), the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam (1989), the Museum of Modern Art Ludwig Foundation in Vienna (1992), the Villa Medicis in Rome (2009), the Maeght Foundation in Saint- Paul-de-Vence (2015), the Fine Arts Museum in Mons (2016) and the National Museum of Modern Art – Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris (2022).

In 1991 he founded La Source Garouste, a non-profit organisation that seeks to support struggling children and young people through artistic creation, in which he has been actively involved ever since.

Auction of a unique lot for the benefit of Sauveteurs en Mer - SNSM, the French sea rescuers

To support the tribute to Baron Philippe de Rothschild, whose arrival at the estate the label celebrates, the owners of Château Mouton Rothschild wanted to give the sea pride of place at this auction. Baron Philippe was an accomplished sailor: a member of the French sailing team at the 1928 Olympic Games, he won the French Regatta Cup in 1937.

On the occasion of the reveal of the artwork created for the Château Mouton Rothschild 2022 label, Baron Philippe de Rothschild SA and Christie’s are organising an online auction of an exclusive lot for the benefit of Sauveteurs en Mer – SNSM, the French sea rescue service, at the Port-Médoc station at Le Verdon-sur-Mer, where the Atlantic Ocean and the Gironde estuary meet. A non-profit association, its mission is to rescue anyone in danger at sea or on the coast, in metropolitan France and in French overseas departments and territories. It is the only organisation with the necessary skills and qualifications to operate from the shoreline to the open sea. It has nearly 11,000 volunteers attached to 206 sea-rescue stations throughout France, as well as 32 training and operations centres and 229 lifeguard stations.

The proceeds from the auction will be used to provide the new seagoing vessel at the Port-Médoc station with communication equipment. This type of boat is particularly well-suited to operations at sea and in coastal areas, including offshore search-and rescue missions, ensuring crew safety, and maritime and surveillance patrols. The communication equipment acquired (autopilot, infrared camera, sonar, nautical chart readers, etc.) will help to ensure safe navigation, increase operational effectiveness and facilitate interactions between emergency services.

The lot comprises an exceptional assortment of various formats of Château Mouton Rothschild 2022, which is generally acknowledged to be an outstanding vintage in Bordeaux: six bottles, three magnums, a double magnum whose label will be signed by the artist and the members of the family, an imperial and the only Nebuchadnezzar available to date, together with two exclusive experiences. The acquirer and three guests will be invited to the reveal of the label for Château Mouton Rothschild 2023, which will be held at the estate in late 2025 and attended by the family and the artist chosen to illustrate the label for that vintage. They will also be given a private tour of Château Mouton Rothschild, followed by a tasting of wines from the estate.

In addition, the acquirer will have the opportunity to attend one of the events in the famous SailGP international sailing competition, in a VIP box with three guests of their choice.

The auction of this exceptional lot will be open from 26 November to 11 December.

Paintings for the Labels at Château Mouton Rothschild

Making Château Mouton Rothschild a place of art and beauty was Baron Philippe de Rothschild’s ambition. Since 1945, the labels for each vintage of Château Mouton Rothschild have been illustrated by an original artwork, adding year after year to the unique collection of contemporary art which brings together very different artists from many different backgrounds, including names such as Salvador Dalí, César, Juan Miró, Marc Chagall, Pablo Picasso, Andy Warhol, Pierre Soulages, Francis Bacon, Balthus, Jeff Koons, David Hockney, Annette Messager, Olafur Eliasson, Peter Doig and Chiharu Shiota.

All these works make up the Paintings for the Labels exhibition, which was created by Baroness Philippine de Rothschild in 1981 and found its permanent home at Château Mouton Rothschild in 2013.