Bach for the ears, Picasso for the eyes – Tommy Girl for the nose? Can scent actually be considered an art form?
“By any reasonable and rational definition that applies to an art medium, scent is one – and clearly so,” says Chandler Burr, author, perfume expert and olfactory curator for New York’s Museum of Art and Design.
Burr believes that the olfactory arts belong in museums and galleries as much as they do on a woman’s dressing table. “Works of art must elicit emotion, thought and some reaction,” he says. “At their best they make their audience perceive reality differently than they did before experiencing the work. Works of scent do all these things brilliantly.”