Hennessy has unveiled a limited-edition collection created with contemporary artist Yan Pei-Ming to honor the Lunar New Year. Inspired by the palette of cognac tones, the artist is exhibiting a monumental composition that pays tribute to the diversity of the Chinese Zodiac bestiary and celebrates the power of culture.
2023, the Year of the Rabbit, begins on an auspicious note with the first collaboration between Hennessy and Yan Pei-Ming. The expressionist artist has put brush to canvas for a monumental painting entitled The Great Race, featuring the rabbit, surrounded by all the other animals of the Chinese Zodiac in dynamic movement, evoking freedom and unity in diversity. The true subject of the painting, which measures an imposing 6 x 3.5 meters, is light, explains Yan Pei-Ming: “When you hold a bottle of cognac up to sunlight, its hues and transparency vary so much. I wanted to portray cognac — but it’s light that is really the color of this painting.” The striking palette in the artist’s remarkable composition immediately evokes the amber and mahogany tones of Hennessy X.O.
The exceptional painting has inspired a limited-edition collection of Hennessy V.S.O.P, Hennessy X.O and Hennessy Paradis cognacs to welcome the Lunar New Year. The centerpiece of the collection is a one-liter Hennessy Paradis decanter, a jewel of artisanal savoir-faire created in collaboration with Maison Bernardaud. Each decanter is handcrafted in the workshop in world-renowned Limoges porcelain. The decanter has been produced in an exclusive series of 888 decanters, each housed in a precious wooden case.
For the Chinese-born artist, now naturalized French, visiting Hennessy in Cognac was a revelatory experience, from the architecture of the renovated ancient buildings to the aromas of cognac and the nuanced hues of the Chai des Fondateurs tasting room. All these myriad details found an expression in this luminous collaboration.
