17 Monday Aug 2020
Posted in Advertising and Scent, Art and Scent
I posted a 1960s advertisement for Elizabeth Arden Blue Grass fragrance (1934) a few weeks ago, when I was looking for a visual that evoked cool, grassy scents for summer. In that search, I found the ad above, which ran in several major women’s magazines in 1941.
It would be an understatement to say I was puzzled…
Continue reading18 Saturday Apr 2020
Posted in Art and Scent
I’ve seen those famous archival photographs of American G.I.s in Paris, waiting on line to buy Chanel perfume for the women at home, many times. . . but I just came across this World War II-era cartoon a few days ago. It was published in The New Yorker on February 28, 1942.
14 Saturday Mar 2020
Posted in Art and Scent
So, what’s new?
[ironic pause]
Wherever you are right now, I hope you’re staying safe and healthy. If you’re practicing “social distancing” and/or staying isolated at home, I hope you’re finding some calm and comfort in your favorite pastimes…reading? writing? wearing perfumes that you haven’t tried in a while?
22 Wednesday Jan 2020
Posted in Art and Scent
In the lobby at MAD
If you’re a regular reader here, you’ll already know that I’ve been making the most of the exhibition “The World of Anna Sui” at the Museum of Arts and Design by visiting the show multiple times and attending related lectures and films.
On December 7th I went up to MAD for “The Art of an Anna Sui Scent,” a conversation between Anna Sui and perfumer Jérome Epinette. Here are a few photos and notes from that event…
06 Monday Jan 2020
Posted in Advertising and Scent, Art and Scent
Bourjois is remembered today primarily as the brand behind affordable but high-quality fragrances like best-selling Evening in Paris (Soir de Paris), launched in 1928. Another pre-war release was Mais Oui (launched in 1938, no longer in production). Mais Oui’s bottle featured a flirtatious fan-shaped cap and a twist of two-sided, pink-and-blue ribbon.
18 Monday Nov 2019
Posted in Advertising and Scent, Art and Scent
“Freetrapper is our most modern masculine scent, but its origins are early America.”
Freetrapper is a fragrance from the NYC-based niche perfume house of D.S. & Durga, whose website goes on to explain,
“Beaver trappers were the cowboys of early America. Renegade mountaineers of the Jacksonian era who cut trails through the wild in search of beaver pelts — prized by hatters, doctors, and perfumers. Dark cedar, snake root, synthetic beaver castor, and wild bergamot.”
So far, so good. Frontiers…settlement…hunting…goods and trade. Earthy, animalic smells. I get it.
But there’s more to read, plus this ad that’s been appearing in my social media feeds lately:
14 Thursday Nov 2019
Posted in Art and Scent
yasiin bey (American, born 1973). Alämayyähu and yasiin, 2015. © The Third Line
I always try to keep an ear (and a nose) out for works of olfactory art that I can visit in New York. This time, the opportunity has come right to my workplace, in yasiin bey: Negus (November 15 through January 26 at the Brooklyn Museum.
From the Brooklyn Museum website:
“We present the U.S. debut of yasiin bey: Negus, a listening installation of yasiin bey’s latest studio recording, which will not be released in any digital or analog mediums. . . .The latest in a series of international presentations of Negus, the exhibition acknowledges the importance of hip-hop as a fundamental American art form by making the 8-track, 28-minute recording available without the distractions of technology. . . .In addition to Negus, the exhibition includes artworks by Ala Ebtekar, Julie Mehretu, and José Parlá created in collaboration with bey, as well as original music by celebrated pianist by Emahoy Tsegué-Maryam Guèbrou.
Negus is presented as an immersive sound installation that can only be experienced in person. The recording is unavailable for purchase via digital or physical platforms. Bey designed the multi-track recording as an installation to encourage people to be fully present while listening to it.”
In fact, the experience is even more immersive than visitors may initially realize…
02 Wednesday Oct 2019
Posted in Art and Scent
If you visit The World of Anna Sui at the Museum of Arts and Design, you’ll come across a gallery space decorated to evoke Anna’s boutiques (and her apartment), with black lacquer dressing tables and cabinets lavishly stocked with boots, handbags, jewelry, and yes — perfumes.
I really wished I could have opened that cabinet and sampled some of the fragrances while viewing the show! Of course, as a museum person, I understand why that’s not possible…but I couldn’t help playing a mental game of matching the fragrances to various looks and “archetypes” in the exhibition.
Here, I’ve paired a few of my photos from the show with quotes from Anna Sui herself and some of her branded perfumes. Read on for my thoughts…
24 Wednesday Apr 2019
Posted in Art and Scent
A pleasant surprise during a hectic day: I found out that my presentation “Frida Kahlo: A Perfumed Portrait” had been covered by two writers for the All Arts website.
I’m grateful to Gillian Edevane and Britt Stigler for attending last Thursday’s event and writing such a detailed and observant summary of my talk and Kahlo’s taste in fragrance.
You can read it here!
