The Maison Hennessy ushers in the festive season around Chinese New Year with a dreamlike work of art by the internationally renowned artist Zhang Enli. Celebrating the Chinese New Year in collaboration with an acclaimed contemporary artist is for Hennessy a way of honoring a spirit, a vision, and a commitment to art.
“While this painting may be different from traditional tiger-themed paintings, my hope is that people will intuitively recall the animal’s beauty and vitality. ‘Poetry and Wine Welcome the Tiger’ is about spirit and sense over appearances; about the force of transformation, even in the tiniest details.” Zhang Enli
In 2022, Zhang Enli builds on this tradition with an original artwork that expresses the regal nature of Hennessy blends through classical Chinese brush painting techniques combined with a bold, modern and creative vision.
Coming after a time of challenge and loss, the Tiger represents hope and augurs renewed energy and vitality. For Hennessy, Zhang Enli draws strength from nature, offering a universal portrait of energy and optimism entitled “Poetry and Wine Welcome the Tiger.”
Favoring abstraction over figurative representation, the artist conjures the majestic animal — an ancestral symbol of power, success, and confidence — with dynamic lines and vibrant color. For the year of the Tiger, he also chose to pay tribute to the peaceful beauty of the Charente River in Cognac, using it as a metaphor for transformation and the passage of time.
“What moves me most about Hennessy is that it comes from nature.” Zhang Enli
Just as every drop of water in the river is unique, so Hennessy’s unique eaux-de-vie are assembled by the Master Blender, generation after generation, into an unforgettable cognac.
Following a visit to Hennessy’s historic seat in Cognac, Zhang Enli transposed his impressions into a fluid, dream-like composition in which sprays of water droplets surge up and reconverge into a tiger prowling in the night. A yellow and gold palette channels empowerment and refinement, with crystalline amber tones recalling the depth of Hennessy’s blends. Touches of red call to mind the festive atmosphere of Chinese New Year, while on the tiger’s forehead appears a pictograph reminiscent of the Chinese character “王 wang”, symbolizing “emperor” or “sovereign.”
COLLECTOR’S EDITION HENNESSY PARADIS
For the first time, special editions of Hennessy X.O and Hennessy V.S.O.P inspired by Zhang Enli’s “Poetry and Wine Welcome the Tiger” will be accompanied by a collector’s edition of Hennessy Paradis, also inspired by this artwork for Chinese New Year. Produced in collaboration with the French heritage house Bernardaud and hand-decorated in the porcelain maker’s atelier in Limoges, the one-liter Hennessy Paradis carafe exists in a limited, numbered edition of only 555 pieces. It is presented in a beautifully crafted wooden box that is intended to enjoy a second life as a decorative object in the home.
ABOUT ZHANG ENLI
The Shanghai-based artist Zhang Enli was born in Jilin, China, in 1965. One of China's most important contemporary artists, he works with everyday ibjects - a piece of string, a length of pipe, an electric wire, some marbles - magnifying them into unique, dreamlike compositions that mirror the world around us and reflect his love of nature. Informed by traditional Chinese ink paintings, the artist's expressive lines and curves, muted tones, and loose washes distill the essence of his sujects with a singular and visionary artistic language.
Zhang Enli's works have been featured in numerous major exhibitions, most recently "A Room That Can Move" at the Power Station of Art in Shanghai (2020). He has exhibited internationally at museums and galleries such as the Galleria Borghese in Rome (2019), Hauser & Wirth in New York (2018), and the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London (2013).
