Ruinart has long shared its taste for artistic collaborations and was even a pioneer in the field. The world’s first champagne brand was indeed the first to innovate in the communications realm by calling on the talents of Czech artist Alphonse Mucha. The year was 1896, and this precursor to Art Nouveau left an impression with the ad he designed – a world first. The maison itself has a long history with art – Dom Thierry Ruinart became, which was rather rare for those days, a Master in Art in 1674 at the age of 17. Ever since, art from every civilization would enter the history of the Ruinart family and be passed down from generation to generation.
After Mucha, Georgia Russel, Piet Hein Eek, Maarten Baas, and Erwin Olaf, Ruinart has now chosen to bring attention to the work of Barcelona native Jaume Plensa. Ruinart has thus once more left a blank slate to “pay homage to the brand, the vintages, the history, the legacy, or the champagne cellars that are classified as World Heritage by UNESCO.”- this time through the imagination of Jaume Plensa. His art, recognizable for sculptures that play with the relationship between words, signs, and the body, takes on letters that are reduced down to their simple selves in order to forge new human silhouettes. For Ruinart, this artist made a sculpture that pays homage to the one that is at the origin of this brand’s spirit: Dom Thierry Ruinart.
Anchored in the ground like vines, this creature is composed of elements of universal language: signs and letters from eight different alphabets – from Arabic to Hindi, Greek and Latin, just like Dom Thierry Ruinart would have liked. By taking a polished stainless steel with satiny nuances as his primary material, the inset letters form a “human” sculpture that allows light to subtly filter through. At the base of the sculpture is engraved two dates: 1729 and 2016. They’re like a secret code, a cryptic message that echoes out to the founding of the Maison Ruinart. This new work by Jaume Plensa honors the brand’s iconic champagne Blanc de Blancs. That’s why Ruinart is accompanying the artwork with a 20-copy boxset that contains a magnum Ruinart Blanc de Blancs, a gem created by the Orfèvrerie d’Anjou workshops. Discover it now.
Ruinart and the art: Key dates
1895 : The link between art and Ruinart begins when Andre Ruinart asks the master of the Art Nouveau Alphonse Mucha to design an ad which will soon a symbol of the maison and of its bottles.
2000s : Ruinart recovers its deep link with art by sponsoring a wide range of art fairs and event around the world. There’s the Frieze New York, The Salon Art + Design New York, the Aipad New York, the Dallas Art Fair, the Expo Chicago, the Art Basel Miami.
2000s : In the same years Ruinart starts to sponsor some crucial artistic events and fairs in Europe too, such as Pad Paris, Art Paris, La Biennale des antiquaries Paris, Asia Now Paris, Paris Photo, Fiac Paris, MiArt Milano, Art Brussels, Brussels Gallery Weekend, ArtMonte-Carlo, Frieze Art Fair London, Pad London Art + Design, Frieze Masters London, Art Basel, Arco Madrid, La Biennale di Venezia, Unseen Amsterdam, Artgenève. Gallery Weekend Berlin.
2002 : Ruinart moves a step forward by starting a series of collaborations with young contemporary artists. The first one is The Kotoli gift box by Nendo. The Japanese design studio designs a brand new gift box for some Ruinart champagnes.
2006 : Artistic collaborations continue with the Champagne spoon by India Mahdavi for the Prestige Collection. The artist gives life to an elegant-artistic spoon intended to save the bubbles by being suspended in the neck of an open bottle of champagne.
2007 : Gideon Rubin starts a charming collaboration with Ruinart by painting a series of portraits dedicated to the founding fathers of Ruinart and to those who truly embody Ruinart’s spirit.
2008 : Marteen Baas creates the centre light sculpture named “Bouquet de Champagne” for a gala table dedicated to the unique line of champagnes Dom Ruinart Blanc 2002 and Dom Ruinart Rosé 1998 vintages.
2010s : As globalisation takes place and the world of art expands to new countries Ruinart starts promoting events also in exotic countries. That’s the case of Art Dubai, Art Basel Hong Kong, Kyotographie and Art Stage Singapore.
2010 : Designed for the Ruinart Blanc de Blancs cuvée, part of the 2010 edition of the Collection prestige Le fil d’Or by Patricia Urquiola, a muselet or wire cage, is the contemporary tribute of a talented, internationally renowned designer to a symbolic object in the world of champagne.
2012 : Hervé Van Der Straeten creates for Ruinart the «Miroir», a fully handcrafted silver plated ice bucket produced in limited edition.
2013 : Piet Hein Eek designs for the Blanc de Blancs collection a full range of artistic wooden cases in pine adapted to each champagne bottle as in the long tradition started by Ruinart in 1769.
2014 : Georgia Russell creates for the Blanc de Blancs collection a series of sculpted boxes incised with notches as a tribute to the cellars of Ruinart.
2015 : Hubert Le Gall starts the artistic project “Glass Calendar”, 12 unique works of art in glass to pay tribute to Ruinart’s history and in particular to the Blanc de Blancs collection.
2016 : Erwin Olaf brings to conclusion his long project dedicated to photograph and portrait the Ruinart’s traditions, iconic places and rituals. Black and white is the key tone to give back the richness and the intensity of the art of making champagne.
2017 : The Catalonian artist Juame Plensa signs a new limited edition of 20 signed Ruinart Blanc de Blancs boxes which are sculptures rather than simple boxes. These true pieces of art are made of stainless steel with satin shades.
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