I saw a folk art figure looking at me from a wine bottle in a suburban Dallas supermarket Saturday. It turns out Ballet of Angels is not only a painting at the New York State Historical Association, Cooperstown, it’s a semi-dry, fruity white wine. The maker’s website provides some insight.
“Our Ballet of Angels wine was created from our first harvest in 1995. We felt that we needed to give this wine a special name that would help to better describe it. After many months and many concepts, we finally came upon the name Ballet of Angels. We now needed to design a label that would compliment the spiritual and beautiful name Ballet of Angels. Catherine, who with her husband Steven own Sharpe Hill Vineyard, had always admired a charming portrait of a boy holding a bluebird. Catherine discovered that the New York Historical Association owned the painting and that it was part of their museum collection in Cooperstown, New York. Catherine asked if the museum would allow the use of the image for their Ballet of Angels label. The Vollweilers were truly amazed to learn that the American artist who painted it, John Brewster, Jr, lived on the other side of the hill from Sharpe Hill Vineyard, in the town of Hampton. The home where he was born in the eighteenth century still stands in the center of town.”
It’s made me begin to think about what sort of wine may pair well with my favorite paintings.
Urban Art & Antiques 