Famed Chinese artist honours the Chinese New Year with a specially commissioned painting to reflect the inclusivity, togetherness and artistic expression for Maison Hennessy.

“La Grande Course is a major piece of my oeuvre. It’s rather monumental, with animals in movement, and a color – the color of cognac – that I’ve never used before. I wanted to do something exceptional, something complicated, that I would be proud of.” Yan Pei-Ming

A leading Cognac producer for over 250 years, Maison Hennessy has long been associated with excellence and expertise, with processes and know-how that’s been passed from generation to generation.

The house likes to express creativity too, and right in time for Chinese New Year have partnered with contemporary artist, Yan Pei- Ming — and they’re not just celebrating one animal, it’s the Year of The Rabbit for 2023, but the whole zodiac in his monumental painting which measures 6×3.5 meters. The aim? Artwork that celebrates inclusivity and hope, and to depict this Yan shows the animals’ racing together towards new horizons with an ethos:  “Together, We Go Further.”

It’s the debut collaboration between Maison Hennessy and the Chinese-born, Dijon-based artist — a natural fit for the house, there are parallels between his life story and that of Richard Hennessy, embracing adventure and forging a life in a foreign country and having graduated from the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Dijon, Yan has made that his base.

“I love France enormously. I came here knowing that I wanted to paint. That quickly cancelled out any doubts and hesitations. I kept asking myself: ‘Are you capable? Do you have something to say? How do you want to express it?’ France is where I developed my character and forged my vision of the world. It’s the country that gave me a chance.” Yan Pei-Ming

Yan’s piece, La Grande Course painting incorporates the familiar and the new; cue his signature broad brushstrokes but incorporating a new colour palette of amber, orange, russet and burgundy to nod to the amber and mahogany of Hennessy X.O. It was also important to capture the light, “When you hold a bottle of cognac up to sunlight, its hues vary so much. I wanted to portray cognac — but it’s light that is really the colour of this painting,” the artist says.

This special piece is accompanied by limited Lunar New Year editions of Hennessy V.S.O.P, Hennessy X.O, and Hennessy Paradis cognacs featuring elements of this artwork. 

The standout offer, a one-litre Hennessy Paradis carafe also combines the excellence of French heritage porcelain maker, Maison Bernardaud. As such, the bottle is hand-decorated and been produced in a limited, numbered edition of only 888 pieces to mark Chinese New Year. To top it off, it’s also presented in a crafted wooden box and sold exclusively in select retail destinations, and will be available to purchase from January 9th for £8,000 at the new Hennessy Rare Editions Boutique in Harrods.

text FELICITY CARTER