Veuve Clicquot Emotions of the Sun arrives in Cape Town
BREE STREET WELCOMES EMOTIONS OF THE SUN, VEUVE CLICQUOT’S GLOBAL PHOTOGRAPHIC EXHIBITION WITH MAGNUM PHOTOS
In December, Youngblood Gallery in Cape Town became the latest home of the Maison’s celebrated Solaire project.
Bree Street took on a new glow, as Youngblood Gallery unveiled Emotions of the Sun, Veuve Clicquot’s international photographic exhibition in collaboration with Magnum Photos. The gallery, painted in the Maison’s iconic Yellow Pantone 137c, stood as a sunny landmark in the heart of the city’s creative district for the duration of the exhibition from 4-21 December.
Following acclaimed showcases in Milan and New York, the exhibition brought together forty works by eight Magnum photographers, each exploring the sun as an emotional force. Their perspectives span five continents but find a natural harmony in Cape Town, a city whose luminosity and creative momentum echo the Maison’s Solaire spirit. “The sun is our ultimate muse,” notes Thomas Mulliez, President of Veuve Clicquot. “Cape Town’s light and its appetite for creativity made this a fitting next chapter.”
The launch event on 3 December deepened that connection. Hosted by Nomzamo Mbatha, the evening welcomed three of the exhibiting photographers, Cristina de Middel, Newsha Tavakolian and South Africa’s own Lindokuhle Sobekwa, as guests of honour. Their presence brought the emotional heart of the project to life, culminating in an intimate conversation about light, memory and place. Sobekwa’s homecoming was a highlight of the night. His series, Blooming in the Sun, captured across the landscapes and communities that shaped him, anchors the exhibition in local sunlight and lived experience. “Seeing the work here, in the light that raised me, gives it a different weight,” he shared. The celebration continued the following day as Emotions of the Sun officially opened to the public as part of Cape Town’s First Thursdays, inviting the city into an immersive experience blending art and joie de vivre.
Inside the gallery, visitors encountered a collection that moved between reflection and exuberance: Steve McCurry’s meditative study of Mount Fuji’s sunrise; Cristina de Middel’s theatrical, colour-saturated ode to Salvador de Bahia; Trent Parke’s monumental scenes from Australia; Alex Webb’s layered portraits of Oaxaca; Nanna Heitmann’s contemplative images from Spain; Olivia Arthur’s quiet French summer; Newsha Tavakolian’s luminous Iranian narrative; and Sobekwa’s tender depiction of spring in South Africa. Together, they formed a global lexicon of sunlight, distinct, but deeply connected.
Beyond the photographs, the Maison extended the experience through the Sun on Your Plate Cafe, a collaboration with culinary curator, Seth Shezi. His menu interpreted sunlight through flavour, colour and texture, echoing the optimism of Veuve Clicquot’s Yellow Label. Visitors could also explore the exclusive gifting boutique, offering personalised Clicquot collectables and limited-edition summer pieces, making the exhibition a feast for the senses.
Over a few weeks, Youngblood Gallery continued to take new forms with exclusive hosted tours and a series of La Grande Dame dinners and Bold Conversations, intimate gatherings that continued the Maison’s sunny tradition of celebrating audacity and community.
ABOUT VEUVE CLICQUOT
Founded in Reims in 1772, the house of Veuve Clicquot remains faithful to its motto: “Only one quality, the finest.” In 1805, Madame Clicquot took the helm and became one of the first businesswomen of modern times. An inveterate optimist, she soon became known as “la grande dame de la Champagne.” Her free spirit, audacity, and desire to innovate have inspired the House ever since, as it continues to make its mark all over the world. Despite the difficulties she encountered, she looked to the future with confidence and won the almost impossible wager, for a woman of her time, of revolutionising the champagne industry.
Madame Clicquot created the first riddling table (an invention still used today for the essential, precise turning of each bottle), the first vintage champagne, and the first known blended pink champagne. Veuve Clicquot’s iconic wine, Brut Carte Jaune, is synonymous with expertise developed over more than two centuries as the centrepiece of the House’s exceptional heritage. The colour yellow, a feature of the House labels since 1877, is an ode to joy and optimism, the rising sun, and the expression of a core conviction at Veuve Clicquot: that each day brings the promise of new possibilities to build the brightest of futures.
Please drink responsibly
ABOUT MAGNUM PHOTOS
In 1947, following the aftermath of the Second World War, four pioneering photographers founded a now legendary alliance. Combining an extraordinary range of individual styles into one powerful collaboration, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Robert Capa, George Rodger and David Seymour “Chim” started, over a celebratory bottle of champagne, the most important artists’ cooperative ever created: the Magnum Photos agency. The choice of the agency’s name is said to reflect Robert Capa’s love of champagne as well as his ambitions concerning the grandeur of his project.
Today, Magnum represents some of the world’s most renowned photographers, maintaining its founding ideals and idiosyncratic mix of journalist, artist and storyteller. The cooperative owes its pre-eminence in part to the ability of its photographers to encompass and navigate the points between photography as art object and photography as documentary evidence.
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