Ruinart’s upcoming Art Basel installation takes inspiration from the historical figures integral to the champagne producer's rise, from Louis XV to philosopher Voltaire, for a series of miniatures by Israeli artist Gideon Rubin. “I don't usually do commissions but this one mirrors my practice,” Rubin explained when NOWNESS dropped by his Kilburn studio to preview the series before it was shipped to Switzerland. The London-based artist uses found photographs and images as the basis of his meticulous oil paintings and cardboard portraits; both incorporate blank-faced figures in an effort to draw the focus to other salient expressions of identity. “I like not having the facial features in the pictures because I'm a sucker for all the other telling details, like the hairstyles or how the collars might differ from one decade to the next,” he says of his signature style. Currently preparing for a solo show at Tel Aviv’s Alon Segev Gallery, Rubin has exhibited around the world at institutions including Paris’s Karsten Greve and New York’s Hosfelt Gallery. Founded in 1729 by Nicolas Ruinart, the nephew of a Benedictine monk who passed down his affinity for oenology, Ruinart is the official champagne sponsor of both the Miami and Switzerland fairs, and made its Art Basel debut in 2008 with a surreal Murano glass and silver sculpture from design prodigy Maarten Baas.