Original mixed-media watercolor illustration on paper by Albert Ondush, titled “A Rising Star.” Whimsical advertising-style composition depicts a caricature of Michel Roux, riding a rocket-like bottle of Stolichnaya Russian Vodka, with “Stolichnaya Vodka” and “Stolichnaya World” incorporated into the imagery. Signed Albert Ondush lower right.
This item is in good pre-owned, previously displayed condition with light wear and surface scratches. Please reference all photos for full details.
Frame: 16 3/4" x 21 1/4" x 1 1/4". Weight: 4.5 lbs
This item is originally from the collection of liquor icon Michel Roux. One of Mr. Roux’s signature spirits at Crillon was absinthe, the anise-flavored spirit known for its popularity among 19th-century artists like van Gogh and Toulouse-Lautrec. It was banned by the United States in 1912 amid concerns that wormwood, one of its ingredients, which contained thujone, caused hallucinations. In 2000, Mr. Roux introduced a legal absinthe, Absente, which used a sister botanical, Southern wormwood, with only trace amounts of thujone.
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