Jean Carzou (1907-2000), born of Armenian parents, studied architecture, only coming to prominence as a painter after 1945. He later won acclaim for his stage sets with his designs for Le Loup by Roland Petit in 1953 and La Périchole at the Théâtre de Paris in 1970. In his work, there is a sharp contrast between a rigorous geometric perspective and the tangle of lines he uses to draw people and things. The result is highly personal and poetic, transcending objective reality by investing it with an element of fantasy.

The allegory of the Wheel of Fortune which he chose for the label of 1954 reminds us that however generous, Nature, even at Mouton Rothschild, is never predictable.