Yayoi Kusama’s latest work can be seen on bottles of La Grande Dame 2012
Artist Yayoi Kusama is teaming up with Veuve Clicquot for a limited-edition bottle of Champagne. But it’s not just the multi-disciplinary master’s name that will adorn the upcoming joint release – her trademark polka dots will star as well.
That’s because Kusama has created an original work for this bubbly collab, featuring – you guessed it – polka dots and flowers. The artist’s favourite dotted design element will be emblazoned on the label and collector’s box for a bottle of the Champagne maker’s latest vintage, La Grande Dame 2012, according to a press release. Additionally, she has also crafted a limited-edition flower sculpture for the brand called My Heart That Blooms in the Darkness of Night that doubles as a bottle holder, and has just the right amount of room for a magnum of the Champagne. That piece, which will be limited to just 100 examples, is available upon request.
“It is with its iconic symbols that Yayoi Kusama adorns [the] La Grande Dame 2012 case and bottle. The opulent flower symbolises vital energy, love and celebration of life,” the brand says of the artist’s work. “The polka dots, Yayoi Kusama’s signature pattern, are reworked like Champagne bubbles to embody La Grande Dame 2012.”
If the collaboration between the Japanese artist and French Champagne seems incongruous, it’s actually familiar territory for both parties. Kusama has worked with Veuve Clicquot before. In 2006, she “breathed new life into” a portrait of founder Philippe Clicquot’s wife, Madame Clicquot, by adding a polka dot motif to the painting for a charity auction in Tokyo.
As for the most recent team-up, bottles of the Veuve Clicquot x Yayoi Kusama La Grande Dame will be available for pre-sale on September 17 and are scheduled to arrive in stores in mid-October, according to the brand (stay up-to-date here). The bottle, and its special box, will retail for US$198 (S$271). The ultra-rare bottle holder, meanwhile, will reportedly sell for significantly more at US$36,000 (S$49,196).
This story first appeared on Robb Report US
