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Valentino Monticello, sommelier and acclaimed artist, has died

Published:  26 June, 2014

 

Today marks the funeral of acclaimed artist and former head sommelier, Valentino Monticello, who took his love for wine and music to create a body of work depicting scenes from famous operas using only wine labels from where those operas were based.

Valentino Monticello Valentino MonticelloThe acclaimed artist and sommelier, Valentino Monticello, brought his love of wine and music together with critically acclaimed paintings of operatic scenes depicted entirely with wine labels

Today marks the funeral of acclaimed artist and former head sommelier, Valentino Monticello, who took his love for wine and music to create a body of work depicting scenes from famous operas using only wine labels from where those operas were based.

His work can still be found on the walls of Italian wineries and are also a key feature of the wine themed venue, Vinopolis, in London.

His wine career saw him move to London from his family run hotel in Vicenza, in north east Italy, in the 1950s where he trained as a sommelier at Club 21.

It was whilst at Club 21 that Monticello was able to discover the world of fine wine and he became a well known and respected figure in the London restaurant scene.

In the mid-1980s Monticello was promoted to head sommelier at Harry's Bar, the private members' dining club, where he remained up to his retirement.

Throughout his wine career he looked to hone his skills as an artist and would often retire to his studio after service to work through the night on private pieces of work.

His first public commission was to pave the way for this artistic talent. He was asked to create a mural for an old people's home and rather than paint one, he chose to do create a collage using the most obvious tools of his trade - wine labels.

By cutting out and an arranging the labels in finite detail he was able to create an intricate landscape that inspired him to go on to make separate paintings using the same technique.

Valentino MonticelloValentino MonticelloA self portrait by Valentino Monticello

Monticello described the process himself: "All of my pictures are composed of shapes carefully cut from wine labels; the people, the flowers, even the lines, are all cut from different wine labels. There is no drawing or painting involved at all."

Using his vast knowledge of opera he went to tens of paintings depicting famous scenes, story lines, myths and legends from the operas he loved. What's more he even used the labels from wine producers in the actual areas where the operas were based, writing to wineries asking for them to share their labels with him.

A self portrait by Valentino Monticello

For example, "La Boheme" by Giacomo Puccini uses only French wine labels. Other operas are specific to wine regions, like Il viaggio a Reims by Gioachino Rossini features only Burgundy wine labels.

Opera imageOpera imageValentino used wine labels to recreate operatic scenes

His work was brought together in his book, which serves as a testimony to his creative talent, entitled: Opera & Wine - Wine in Opera. He was rewarded with an exhibition of his work at The National Gallery in London in 2002. He was also featured in the Summer Exhibition at the Royal Academy of Art in London in the early 1990s.

Valentino Monticello Opera and WineOpera and Wine by Valentino Monticello brings together his life's work

Despite huge demand to sell his creations, Monticello kept the bulk of his work at his family home in Battersea, south London.

But his works can be found all over the world, primarily in the hands of wealthy collectors who share his interest in wine, opera and art.

A collection of Monticello's work, entitled The Life of Bacchus, can be seen at the il Molino di Grace vineyard in Chianti.

His work has also featured across the international wine press and has been used as illustrations for wine lists, most recently by The Wine Society.

If you would like to know more about the life and work of Valentino Monticello you can visit his website.

Monticello leaves a wife, Silvana and two children, Michele and Claudia.

* A small family only funeral is taking place today but there are plans to hold a memorial service later in the summer. If you are interested in more details please contact Richard Siddle on richard.siddle@wrbm.com.

Valentino used wine labels to recreate operatic scenes

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