Ukrainian artists feature on Champagne bottles for charity

Ukrainian artists have created wine labels for a limited art collection of Champagne Pierre Morlet that is part of the charity initiative Victory of Dignity.

The artwork undertaken for the charity will see proceeds going to the Main Military Clinical Hospital of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, and other mobile military hospitals in the country.

To create the Victoire de la Dignité collection of bottles, the project’s manager, Mariia Didkovska, involved the French family Champagne house Pierre Morlet. The limited edition collection includes 2,388 bottles with labels based on the works of six prominent Ukrainian artists.

Bottles have been described as an independent art object in their own right, and the result of a personal creative vision from each of the artists.

Millésime 2015, which Pierre Morlet describes as a special and rare vintage, saw winemakers heating the vines due to an early frost, saving the grapes and delivering an unexpected Champagne. It has been used for the Victorie de la Dignité bottles.

Ageing on lees for more than 6 years it has ageing potential until 2030. and is made up from 85% Chardonnay and 15% Pinot Noir grapes, which were all collected from the house’s Premier and Grand Cru vineyards. Millésime qualification is confirmed by manual picking and sorting.

Prices start at €380 and bottles are available here.

The artists

Below are the artists that took part in the initiative, and which feature on the collection of labels that appear on the Champagne bottles.

Oleksii Apollonov

Oleksii Apollonov studied at the National Academy of Fine Arts and Architecture. He has been participating in national and international exhibition projects since 1987. Member of the National Union of Artists of Ukraine. Oleksii is a member of the association of artists “БЖ-АРТ” and one of the founding members of the creative group “Blue October”. His works can be found in the National Museum “Kyiv Art Gallery”, Zaporizhzhia Regional Art Museum, and many private collections in Ukraine, Germany, France, Hungary, USA.

“Grunwald”

The work is a historical reminder of the valour of Ukrainians.

Mykola Bilous

Mykola Bilous is the inventor of the original method of harmonising the colours through inversion. The essence of the technique is that a special ground is first created: a mixture of red, blue, and yellow in equal proportions, which removes the colour contrast. Then, according to the principle of complementarity, other colours are applied to the soil with a transparent layer. This technique resembles colour calligraphy: it cannot be corrected, copied, or faked.

The geography of the master’s connoisseurs includes dozens of countries and continues to expand. His works can be found in the collections of 25 countries.

“The Greeting”

The work honours the indomitable spirit of the Ukrainian nation and is a symbol of faith.

Olena Pryduvalova

Olena Pryduvalova studied at the Kyiv State Art Institute. She became a laureate of the “Outstanding Artists of Ukraine” competition. Olena has been participating in national and international exhibition projects since 1987. Member of the association of artists “БЖ-АРТ”, member of the National Union of Artists of Ukraine. One of the founding members of the creative group “Blue October”. Her works are kept in the Zaporizhzhia Regional Art Museum, the National Art Gallery (Washington), the J. Soros Center for Contemporary Art at the National Academy of Art, the collection of the University of Chicago, as well as in many private collections in Ukraine, the USA, Canada, Poland, Hungary, Greece, Germany, Great Britain, Sweden, Croatia, Japan.

“Podil”

The work is a reminder of how peaceful and calm a Ukrainian night can be.

Maryna Skugareva

Maryna Skugareva is a regular participant in contemporary art exhibitions in Kyiv, Warsaw, Basel, Berlin, and Odense. Maryna’s works are part of the “new wave”, which connected her art with postmodernism, renewing traditional Ukrainian art through its aesthetics. She finds beauty and sensuality in the ordinary, and then emphasizes them, revealing the hidden properties of objects, with the help of which she conveys the necessary state.

In one of the interviews, Maryna Skugareva said: “To be an artist, I don’t need to leave the house.” And indeed, she knows how to find not only interesting and fascinating but also mysterious things in everyday life.

“The Road”

The work reflects the infinity of existence through the image of a typical landscape of Ukrainian roads.

Oleksandr Sukolit

Oleksandr Sukholit is a Ukrainian sculptor, graphic artist, and painter who belongs to the “new wave.” His works are stored in the “Art Arsenal”, the “Chocolate House” center, the national museum “Kyiv Art Gallery”, the art space “Edem Resort Medical & SPA”, the National Art Museum of Ukraine (Kyiv), the National Reserve “Sofia Kyivska” and many other national and private museums of Ukraine, as well as in the Tama Art University Museum (Tokyo, Japan), the Westing Gallery (Odense, Denmark),  he city museum of Varaždin (Croatia), the Stedley Art Foundation (Ukraine), private collections in Great Britain, the United States, Belgium, Sweden, Denmark, Switzerland, Hungary, Croatia, Germany, Canada and Ukraine.

“Ai-Petri”

The work broadcasts an emotional outburst caused by a sense of triumph.