Masters of art and wine

From Register Staff Wine meets art in grand style this week in the valley. The 74 versions of Bacchus, which have been on display at the Napa Valley Museum, have been moved to the Meadowood where they will be auctioned off as part of the Napa Valley Wine Auction activities.In their place, the Napa Valley Museum will open a new exhibit featuring some great names in art history celebrating wine.The Bacchus creations were the inspiration of Margrit Biever Mondavi, who is co-chairing this year's auction with her husband, Robert. She created the designs for four-foot, die-cut template images of Bacchus, the Greek god of wine and fertility. By invitation, 74 artists, three-quarters of whom are local, let their imaginations run wild as they recreated the templates in their own styles."It was a major challenge," said Eric Nelson, director of the Napa Valley Museum, "but people got really creative around it."Or as artist Rise Delmar Ochsner named her piece, it was a process of getting "In Touch with my Inner Bacchus." Results ranged from a "Bucket-Headed Bacchus," by Robert Cooley to Lisa Splendid Jacklich's cubed "Boxed Bacchus." Earl Thollander added his devil motif by putting horns on his Bacchus, and Celeste Smeeland created an illuminated, half-Buddha, half-Bacchus creature from her template. A dog-headed Bacchus, a Bacchus dressed as a tourist, and "2001 Bacchus Odyssey" were also among the results. "I sense people ultimately had a good time with it," Nelson commented.500 Years of Wine in Art In conjunction with Sterling Vineyards, the museum will next present "500 Years of Wine in Art: The Sterling Portfolio" featuring selection of artwork celebrating the grape from artists including Van Leyden, Picasso, Daumier, Altdorfer, Erni, Maillol, Chagall, Diderot, Currier & Ives and Renoir.The show opens Sunday and runs through Sept. 2.Co-curated by Vivendi Universal curator Carla Caccamise Ash and Napa Valley Museum curator Randolph Murphy, the exhibition comprises 100 examples of etchings, engravings and woodcuts from Sterling Vineyard's portfolio of wine art and history. Focusing on themes of grape harvest, wine production and celebration, "500 Years of Wine in Art: The Sterling Portfolio" features botanical prints, mythological or religious imagery, depictions of harvest, social satires and early advertising. "We wanted to give viewers an opportunity to experience premiere pieces of work by both world renown and lesser known artists, and at the same time present an exhibition spanning five centuries of different artistic styles that is unified around the fascinating theme of wine," Murphy said.The Sterling Vineyards portfolio of wine art and history, which also includes a large number of artifacts, was collected over a 35-year period by the Christian Brothers organization and displayed in the Wine Museum of San Francisco and The Seagram Museum in Canada. Upon completion of an $8 million major renovation program, now underway at Sterling Vineyards, a sizable portion of the collection will be on permanent display at the winery. "As a body of work devoted to the subject of wine, this collection is truly unique," Murphy said. "The diversity of the collection is particularly striking. One minute you are looking at a 17th-century etching of a Bacchanalian scene, and the next you can see an interpretation of the same subject by Picasso. There are 19th-century illustrations of California vineyards and 20th-century woodcuts illustrating Aesop's fable of 'The Fox and the Grape.' Although some of the print pieces have been displayed in public before, this is the first comprehensive exhibition of the Sterling Vineyards print collection that has been mounted."The Napa Valley Museum is located at 55 Presidents Circle in Yountville. The museum is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. except Tuesday. Permanent exhibits include "California Wine: The Science of an Art." This multimedia communications and interactive exhibit integrates science, agriculture, history, physiology and wine technology. Free weekend events with Museum admission: $4.50 adults; $3.50 seniors/students; $2.50 ages to 17 and free for children under seven.For more information call 707-944-0500 or log on to www.nvavalleymuseum.org. Sterling Vineyards can be accessed through their Web site at www.sterlingvineyards.com