The wine painting made its first appearance in the eighteenth century.
We are currently only a handful of artists in France and over the world to paint professionally with wine due to technical difficulties that wine imposes.
Technical approach :
Painting with wine does not allow editing.
The gesture must be prompt, precise and fluid because wine is a living product that must be tamed. The natural pigments that it contains are extremely resistant (try to detach a tablecloth on which some drops of wine have been spilled ....)
I use it pure for painting the clear areas and more or less reduced by evaporation to mark the darker zones. This work is absolutely crucial and may require 5-7 applications. It depends of the origin of the wine that I use to paint with.
Tannin biochemistry :
After a few days in contact with air, the wine begins its oxidation process to turn into its final color ( the color range goes from brown to grey ) At this stage, I apply a protective varnish to guarantee to each painting a perfect preservation in time.
Beyond the clichés : What better than a wine painting to transmit to the paper a vineyard morning light mist or the sharp edge of a rocky path. Each wine tells its own story built around a local terroir, a specific grape or a secret winemaking.
Thus, the ruby colour of a wine from the “vallée de la Loire” will unveil its lively and playful temperament. In contrast, the nobility of a “ Grand cru de Bordeaux” will distil its subtle charm through a wash of diaphanous shades of purple. An old Burgundy will offer to the eyes a gourmet pallet combining ripe plum and dried fruits in a racy whirlwind. The wine is capricious ! He's the only one to decide...
To every man his terroir and wine!
For me it will be a moon grape pressed on a carpet of stars.
Jean-Luc Delacherie
Click on the image below to enter the wine painting gallery.