Artistic scent collabs …
In London, the recent exhibition Marie Antoinette: Style at the V&A Museum wowed visitors with its theatricality and an intriguing scent experience that reflected Marie Antoinette’s passion for perfumes, particularly tuberose. Her hair was scented with jasmine and she had her own personal perfumer, Jean-Louis Fargeon, which added to her charismatic aura.
In the Netherlands, the Van Gogh Museum’s current exhibition Yellow: Beyond Van Gogh’s Colour is exuberant, as is the museum’s ongoing partnership with Floral Street to create perfumes based on his paintings. Of note is the citrusy Sunflower scent – a blend of bergamot and mandarin – one of several Floral Street scents you can try at M&S without travelling to Amsterdam!
Six fragrances created by Pura have tried to capture and bottle the allure of The Met in New York, each offering an extra-sensory experience as an alternative to the usual postcards or lapel pins.
And at the Tate in the UK, you can pick up a range of scented candles by Heal’s inspired by artworks within the collection, including Dame Laura Knight’s watercolour Spring recreated in notes of jasmine and gardenia.
It’s interesting to chart how galleries and museums have embraced scent marketing to bring exhibitions to life. At the National Gallery of Ireland, there’s an exclusive perfume collaboration with The House of Essence D’Immortelle. You’ll find its bewitching perfume Enchantment in the gift shop inspired by William Blake’s mysterious painting, The Night of Enitharmon’s Joy (1795), as seen in the exhibition William Blake: The Age of Romantic Fantasy. Enitharmon, the goddess of the underworld, is a key figure in Blake’s mythology; the painting is often referred to as The Triple Hecate.
It’s not the first time the Gallery has had a scent collaboration. Remember when Irish Canadian artist Erin Quinn, the nose behind EQ Factories, created a perfume to celebrate the much loved painting by Frederic William Burton – the Meeting on the Turret Stairs (1864)?
Before creating this bespoke scent, self-taught perfumer Lady Lavinia Ravenswood, the nose behind the fragrance, researched William Blake thoroughly. She was already passionate about Gothic art and had previously presented perfumes at the Gothic Soul Noir Festival. She calls scent an art form and her interest began early.
“Growing up in Glasnevin next to the botanical gardens and cemetery, l became fascinated by those contrasting energies and aromas, and how important our sense of smell is in our everyday life. Scent uplifts, it comforts, it changes our moods. I create perfumes from observing the emotional responses, inspirations, personalities and skin types of recipients,” she explains.
Lavinia offers consultations in her perfume studio that usually take around three hours. “I guide the recipient on a perfume journey and, from there, I create a number of samples for them to take away and try in their own environment at different times of day. It’s important to test perfumes in different moods and settings. The process takes around three weeks to finesse a signature scent. I also offer clients vintage or contemporary bottles. Occasionally, a client may have a family heirloom perfume bottle which they wish to use for their signature scent. Each bespoke scent I create has its own name and comes with a certificate of authenticity.”
“The Enchantment scent I created for the National Gallery reflects my view of Blake as an alchemist and a spiritual liberator. He believed in other worlds and how we could retain a higher innocence through our imagination. I wanted to capture the magical essence and different moods of his painting. I wondered what kind of aroma would be found in the underworld?”
Described as a scent of dark desire, Enchantment is an opulent blend of dusky ingredients such as Persian vetiver, myrrh, amber musk and black violet. I was impressed by both the scent and flacon which makes an unusual memento of this historic exhibition. Prices range from €65 for 10ml to €150 for 30ml and €250 for 50ml.
Visitors will also find striking leather pieces created by leather expert and fashion designer Úna Burke. “The etched purse is inspired by the geometric lines and sunburst featured in Blake’s painting The Ancient of Days. This sunburst detail is also seen in several of his others artworks and the hand etching process relates back to his early engraving training.”
“The pointed forms of the criss-cross cuff shows what could be interpreted as angelic wings or devilish claws, reflecting both extremes within his work while the twin strap bracelet represents the many layers of humanity,” explains Úna. “ The combination of smooth and textured leathers result in a gothic aesthetic in deep tones of green, navy, burgundy and black with some items also available in a golden yellow. The hardware is solid brass and coated with a choice of pure gold or gunmetal, again representing the heavenly and hellish themes within Blake’s work.”
These unique gifts reinforce the trend that museums and galleries (in addition to many hotel boutiques) are the best concept stores to shop in now. @ladylaviniaravenswood @unaburkeleather
