A single bottle, layered by hand into light and shadow. Every tone, from the palest blush to the deepest garnet, is drawn from the grape itself. Commissioned from your photograph and made to last.
Each portrait is one of a kind. The variety, the vintage and the hand are never repeated.
Red wine is the only medium. Worked in thin washes and left to oxidise, its tannins deepen from a translucent rosé to a near-black garnet. Building tone is a matter of patience, layer upon layer, each allowed to dry before the next, until a face emerges from the stain.
Painted on archival cotton paper and finished with a UV-protective seal, every commission is made to hold its colour for a lifetime.
Each variety brings its own palette, Cabernet for deep garnet tones, Pinot Noir for softer blush, Tempranillo for warm terracotta. You can specify the grape, the region, even the vintage. The wine becomes part of the story.
You may send your own bottle directly to the studio, or select and order through Wein and Co, Vienna, we are happy to coordinate the order together.
Wineonpaper is the private project of an international contemporary artist whose main practice is represented in galleries across Europe and beyond. The identity behind this work is kept deliberately separate, a choice that is itself part of the project.
This project exists for two reasons: a genuine obsession with red wine as a painting medium, its oxidation, its depth, its refusal to behave like conventional pigment. And the desire to fund the studio practice that makes everything else possible.
Every commission arrives hand-signed with the artist's full name, accompanied by a certificate of authenticity. The collector enters a small circle. The mystery, if you like, resolves itself on arrival.
Prices are per single-subject portrait and include shipping across Europe. Additional figures and larger formats on request.
As the project launches, commissions are offered at half the future gallery price. These rates will not last, once the first series is complete, prices return to their full value.
Larger formats available on request, mention it in the commission form.
Share a portrait you love and a few details. We'll reply within 48 hours with a proposal, a mock-up and next steps.
Wine is a living medium, and that is precisely what makes it extraordinary. Over the first weeks after painting, the tones may deepen slightly as the wine continues to oxidise and settle into the paper. This is not a flaw; it is the material expressing itself, the same way a wine evolves in the bottle over years.
The work will not fade dramatically, and it will not deteriorate. Each piece is finished with a UV-protective archival seal that stabilises the surface and protects against light damage. Kept away from direct sunlight, a Wineonpaper commission is made to last not years but generations, a genuinely permanent work of art, painted in one of the oldest natural pigments humans have ever used.
Your satisfaction is not a formality, it is the whole point. Before work begins, we agree the brief in detail together: composition, size, which wine to use, and any specific wishes about mood or style. Once the painting is underway, you receive photographs at key stages so you can follow the process and give feedback before it is too late to act on it.
Crucially, the work is never shipped without your approval. You will receive high-quality photographs of the finished piece and give the final sign-off before it leaves the studio. If something is not right, we remake it. If after all of that you are still not satisfied, we refund you in full. We have never needed to, but the guarantee exists, unconditionally.
Submitting an enquiry through the form is entirely free and commits you to nothing. Once we have spoken and agreed the brief, work begins with no upfront payment required. You will receive photographs of the finished piece for your approval, and payment is made only once you are happy with the result and before the work is shipped.
Payment is made by direct bank transfer to the artist, details of which are provided at agreement stage. There are no platform fees or third-party processors. Your money goes directly to the person who made the work, which also means you are always dealing with a real human being with a name, a practice, and a reputation to uphold.
Yes, and this is one of the most meaningful parts of the commission. The artist works with all red varieties and will guide you toward a grape that suits the tonal range of your photograph. But the most special commissions are those where the wine itself carries a story: a bottle from the year someone was born, a wine from a region that means something to the person being portrayed, a favourite that was shared at a particular moment.
You are welcome to send a bottle directly to the Vienna studio. Alternatively, we can choose and order together through Wein and Co, Vienna, one of Europe's finest wine merchants, with an extraordinary selection available for delivery or collection. When the work arrives, the label of the bottle used is included with the certificate of authenticity. The wine is not just a medium. It is part of the portrait.
It may be the most personal gift that exists. Think about what it contains: a portrait of someone you love, hand-painted by a gallery artist, using a wine chosen specifically for them, signed with a name they will only discover when it arrives. There is no gift catalogue in the world that offers that combination.
Wineonpaper commissions make extraordinary gifts for milestone birthdays, wedding anniversaries, engagements, and retirements, any occasion where the person deserves something that took time, thought, and real skill to make. We can ship directly to the recipient anywhere in Europe, include a handwritten card, and work to a specific date if you need the piece to arrive for an occasion. Send us the details and we will make it happen.
The artist behind Wineonpaper is an active figure in the international contemporary art world, with an existing gallery practice, exhibition history, and a name that carries weight in the art market. That is precisely why the identity is not published here.
The art market is a specific and sometimes fragile ecosystem. Galleries, institutions, and collectors form relationships with artists over years, and those relationships depend on a certain kind of positioning. Wineonpaper is a separate project, born from a personal obsession with wine as a medium and a desire to fund the broader studio practice, and mixing the two identities publicly could undermine both.
This is not evasion. It is a considered professional decision of the kind that serious artists make regularly. The anonymity is also, frankly, part of what makes this project interesting, a named artist doing commissions is simply a service; an anonymous one, who reveals themselves only to collectors, creates a different kind of relationship.
Once your commission is agreed and underway, the artist introduces themselves by name. Every completed work arrives hand-signed, with a certificate of authenticity bearing the full name and details. You will know exactly who made it, and you will be one of a small number of people who do.