Is perfumery art?

I noticed that I haven’t posted about perfume for a while. I spent most of the time thinking about a new project related to perfumers and perfumery this week and felt comfortable posting something related.

Last weekend my two sons had an annual play date with Les Christophs (Christophe Laudamiel and Christoph Hornetz) at home, and I had an opportunity to speak with perfumer Christophe Laudamiel on various subjects including art and design. Laudamiel is one of the few perfumers (if not only) who is trying to think perfumery outside the realm of commercial perfumery or a mere scent making. The most interesting discussion with him was on the possibility for the perfumery to be recognized as art.

Perfumery is not art in today’s context. For example, we cannot speak about perfumery as we speak about contemporary art. Perfumery is still like 18th or 19th century art. As Laudamiel pointed out to me, I too believe that finding the answer to this issue will ultimately take the commercial perfumery to the next level.

I also found an interesting article by chance addressing a similar issue. Here is the link where you can download the article.