Andy Warhol Was a Perfume Loving Smellaholic

World Wide Web Logo by Robert Cailliau

I'm engaged in research for a Smell & Tell program on Andy Warhol called Drella Was a Smellaholic, which takes place on April 17th. I've kept my nose out of recent articles that chronicle Warhol's love of perfumes because it's important to support findings and opinions against an historical timeline as a way of testing my theories to see if they're true. Historical patterns examined against olfactory narratives reveal facts, some of which are novel. This is especially important when examining an artist like Andy Warhol: culture maker, culture vulture and everything in between.

Keeping the research process fluid and open allows you to find facts you’re not looking for. Some of these facts will provide clues and take you where you need to go. It's not uncommon for a researcher to reference the fact-finding of others in order to support their opinion, but there's a caveat. Don't use other people’s research to bolster your own in place of doing the work yourself. Think everything through. This will allow you to detect and interpret patterns.

Journalists who are critical thinkers present multiple points of view when supporting their own opinion because bias is the enemy of forming an evaluative opinion while maintaining your own. This skill is one of the reasons why great journalists win awards. Personal bias, be it conscious or unconscious, shouldn't be a main course at the research banquet if one wishes to dine on the experience of discovery that comes by way of inquiry. It shouldn't even be on the menu.

Vintage Bottle of Youth Dew Perfume via Perfume Fetish

There are missing pieces of information regarding Andy Warhol's love of perfumes. Andy isn't here to tell us his perfume stories, but his ghostwritten books provide more clues than a Ouija board. My premise was, is and continues to be that Warhol's commercial work as an illustrator (in addition to the postwar perfume scentscape of the 1950s) inspired his love of collecting perfumes, which began in the 1960s. Warhol's pursuit of perfume was further supported by the influence of counterculture, disco, punk rock, and the full-throttle era of 1980s designer perfumes.

Perfume immortalizes time and allows one to be transported in a single whiff. Solitary and social experiences are supported by this effect, so it doesn't matter if you're smelling someone else's perfume or enjoying whiffs in solitude (which many people do and is also why looking at someone smelling a paper perfume blotter with their eyes closed feels voyeuristic). Andy Warhol was a culture vulture and culture maker who didn't have trouble living in the overlapping space between these two distinct ways of being in the world. He was an astute, sensitive and keen observer. If Andy Warhol hated perfume he wouldn't be Andy Warhol.

Mary Magdalene, Patron Saint of Perfumers

One of the effects returned to Andy Warhol's family after he died following routine gallbladder surgery on February 22, 1987 was a small bottle of Youth Dew (1953) by Estée Lauder. Go back in time and walk in Andy's shoes for a minute. You're going to have surgery and you bring a bottle of Estée Lauder's Youth Dew perfume to the hospital. Youth Dew. The historic fragrance that kick-started American perfumery after the Second World War. It's like bringing a myrrh-weeping icon of Mary Magdalene, patron saint of perfumers, to the hospital. Warhol was raised as a Byzantine Catholic. Youth Dew may have reminded him of church and family, in addition to the promise of alluring rejuvenescence that infuses the name of the fragrance.

Andy Warhol was purportedly buried with a bottle of Beautiful (1985) and copy of Interview Magazine that Paige Powell threw into his grave before the casket was lowered during a private burial attended by family and close friends. Warhol was introduced to Beautiful at a 1986 promotional event hosted by The Estée Lauder Companies. This is what he told Evelyn Lauder when he found out that the perfume being launched was called Beautiful, “Beautiful?” he said. “Are you serious? That’s the name? I love it. Are they giving a party for it? When? I have about ten bottles of Poison, yes. I love it. And Coco. I have one bottle of that, but I want to get another bottle before I open it. Obsession, that’s great.” Andy Warhol was a full-on smellaholic. The story is recounted by Evelyn Lauder in The New Yorker.

"In the future everybody will be world-famous for 15 minutes" is a quote attributed to Andy Warhol. Though he denied saying this, it stuck. It's perfumed with the ethos of the Warhol brand and continues to inform his legacy as an innovative artist who wasn't afraid to blur the lines between art, commerce and multiple disciplines.  The history of the World Wide Web may contain a nod to Andy Warhol, who was born Andrew Warhola on August 6, 1928. Fact: the Internet went worldwide on August 6, 1991, opening the playground of world famousness to everyone on the 63rd anniversary of Andy Warhol's birth.

Think of that when you hear the phrase “World Wide Web” or see "www" in a URL. Robert Cailliau designed the historic triple "w" logo as a representation of the World Wide Web. Something about it looks Warholesque, but that might be my bias talking...

Notes:
Never been to a Smell & Tell at the Ann Arbor District Library? Click here to find out what all the buzz is about. The program will celebrate it's seventh anniversary year in June. Events take place monthly (and will include offsite flavor events in 2019).

Andy Warhol and his family attended St. John Chrysostom Byzantine Catholic Church in his hometown of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Orthodox iconography is an art onto itself. Holy icons are known to exude myrrh, an ingredient in the formula for Youth Dew by Estée Lauder.

Drella is a nickname that was given to Andy Warhol by superstar Ondine. It's a mash-up of Dracula and Cinderella. Songs for Drella is an album by John Cale and Lou Reed dedicated to Andy Warhol.

The Philosophy of Andy Warhol: From A to B and Back Again, (1975), ghostwritten by Pat Hackett and Bob Colacello (editor at Interview Magazine). The contents of the book were drawn from taped conversations with Pat Hackett (who did a lot of this kind of collaborative work with Warhol) and conversations that Warhol taped between himself and Bob Colacello, and former Warhol superstar and artist Brigid Berlin. Chapter 10 on Atmospheres is where smell and perfume are discussed in detail. One can't help wondering what life would have been like for Andy Warhol had he lived long enough to discover fragrance blogs.

A quote worth remembering if inquiry is your thing:
“Stealing from one author is plagiarism; from many authors, research.” ― Walter Moers, The City of Dreaming Books

Image of vintage Youth Dew perfume via © Perfume Fetish on Etsy. I'm looking forward to a small bottle of vintage Halston that I ordered for the Drella Was a Smellaholic Smell & Tell. I missed out on the gorgeous vintage bottle of Youth Dew and will stare admiringly at the picture in an attempt to will into my life.

Smell and Tell Lectures: Three Years and Counting

The history of "Smell and Tell" presentations in Ann Arbor, Michigan began on June 6, 2012. Three years and 27 presentations later, the unique multisensory lectures continue to delight and intrigue a wide audience. From elementary school children at 826Michigan, to students at The University of Michigan, and patrons of the Ann Arbor District Library, the demand for Smell and Tell lectures continues to grow.

Evangelizing the perfume arts with an art-science twist has led to an interesting side effect; a sense of community through the sense of smell. The experience of attending a Smell and Tell is not only educational; it is profoundly self-authenticating. Smell is memory's sense and memory is identity, so there's no getting around connecting with others in the same room when a Smell and Tell takes place.

Seeing someone who is shy open up like a flower when they smell a raw material or perfume is powerful. Everyone deserves to be respected, understood and listened to which isn't easy in our hurry-hurry world. Smell and Tell supports this as it creates a safe, non-judgmental space that is conducive to learning. This is key to positive outcomes in an educational setting that is multisensory by design. It's also what motivates me to take Smell and Tell to higher ground at The University of Michigan and beyond.

Comparing complementary and contrasting responses to aroma materials weaves a rich tapestry of conversation and affirms a sense of community. Smell Mapping, a technique I developed from my perfumery training at Givaudan and the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT), teaches Smell and Tell attendees how to get comfortable with evaluating scents versus judging them based on likes and dislikes. They learn how to do this by immersing themselves in the science of olfaction and the art of perfumery.

Another benefit of Smell and Tell is that it teaches attendees how to develop an olfactory lexicon; something that is painfully lacking in ocularcentric culture. Learning how to describe what can be sensed, but not seen supports communication skills, some of which are compromised because of reliance on digital devices. When you can't see something and have to describe the invisible, you need to get comfortable with the absence of visual proof. Turning inward isn't comfortable for some, but we do this every time we think silently to ourselves. The more you exercise the sense of smell the better you get at decoding the invisible. It's a superpower. All you have to do is follow your nose.

This is an extraordinarily powerful exercise in a culture attached to binaries. Sometimes an object isn't black, white or grey; it simply is. Smell and Tell is about cultivating presence and objectivity so you can decode the invisible and engage curiosity. When curiosity is allowed to thrive it can be harnessed to solve problems and innovate. This benefit of Smell and Tell catches on quickly in academia as it bridges art and science while fueling communication skills that support creative confidence and interdisciplinarity.

This week marks the debut of Glass Petal Smoke's YouTube channel. Programming from a Smell and Tell at the Ann Arbor District Library is now live. "Chanel No. 5: The Art and Science Behind a Timeless Perfume" was produced by the Ann Arbor District Library and can be shared via a Creative Commons Attribution No Derivatives 4.0 International License. The video has been edited to fit a specific time frame so the smelling of Spanish Leather (created by perfumer Christophe Laudamiel for the lecture), Aldehyde C11, Dihydromyrcenol, Cashmeran, Aldehyde C10, Grasse Jasmine and Rose de Mai has been omitted. These materials were attached to specific contexts that are best suited to a live lecture.

If you want to experience the real thing you can attend the next Smell and Tell at the Ann Arbor District Library in August (date and topic to be announced shortly). Keep an eye on the right hand page of Glass Petal Smoke for information on future Smell and Tell programming. If you have any questions you can direct them to glasspetalsmoke [at] gmail dot com.

Smell and Tell Lectures Given Between June 2012 and June 2015

“Exotic Woods and Ethereal Exudates in Perfumery.” Smell and Tell Lecture Series at the Ann Arbor District Library, May 20, 2015.

“Serge Lutens: Collaboration in Luxury Fragrance Design.” Smell and Tell Lecture Series at the Ann Arbor District Library, April 8, 2015.

“Secrets from a Trained Nose.” TEDxUofM at the Power Center for the Performing Arts, March 20, 2015.

“The Scent of Disappearing Trees.” The North Campus Sustainability Hour at The University of Michigan, February 25, 2015.

“Smell: The Ultimate Provocateur.” University of Michigan Interdisciplinary Course: “A Dialogue of the Senses,” February 18, 2015.

“Chanel No. 5: The Art and Science Behind a Timeless Perfume.” Smell and Tell Lecture Series at the Ann Arbor District Library, February 10, 2015.

“The Aromatic Allure of Patchouli.” Smell and Tell Lecture Series at the Ann Arbor District Library, December 3, 2014.

“Olfaction and the Art of Perfumery.” University of Michigan Biology and Arts Course: “Mandorla of Life Sciences and the Arts,” October 10, 2014.

“Chanel No. 5: The Art and Science Behind a Timeless Perfume.” Smell and Tell Lecture Series at the Ann Arbor District Library, August 27, 2014.

“Smell and Tell: Follow Your Nose.” The MSTEM Academy, Center for Engineering Diversity and Outreach, University of Michigan, July 29, 2014.

“Cooking with Flavor.” Smell and Tell Lecture Series at the Ann Arbor District Library, June 11, 2014.

“Smell and Tell: Lavender.” Relax and Rejuvenate event at The University of Michigan College of Engineering, May 20, 2014.

“Smell: The Ultimate Provocateur.” University of Michigan Interdisciplinary Course: “A Dialogue of the Senses,” February 25, 2014.

“Baking with Flavor.” Smell and Tell Lecture Series at the Ann Arbor District Library, February 19, 2014.

“Reconstructing Meaning in the Face of Loss.” Smell and Tell Lecture Series at the Ann Arbor District Library, November 10, 2013.

“The Aroma of Terroir.” Smell and Tell Lecture Series at the Ann Arbor District Library, September 18, 2013.

“Stories of Anosmia.” Smell and Tell Lecture Series at the Ann Arbor District Library, June 8, 2013.

“Eau Whisky: The Essence of Peat and Perfume.” Nerd Nite, Ann Arbor, April 17, 2013.

“Aroma Spies.” Smell and Tell Workshop Series at 826 Michigan, March 7, 2013.

“Smell and Tell: Vanilla.” Autism Play Connection at the Ann Arbor District Library, February 17, 2013.

“Smell: The Ultimate Provocateur.” University of Michigan Interdisciplinary Course: “A Dialogue of the Senses,” February 25, 2013.

“The Alchemy of Scent.” Smell and Tell Lecture Series at the Ann Arbor District Library, January 12, 2013.

“Sacred Scents.” University of Michigan Art Course: “Rethinking the Power of Art,” November 14, 2012.

“Sacred Scents and Aphrodisiacs.” Smell and Tell Lecture Series at the Ann Arbor District Library, October 30, 2012.

“Flavorology: A Bubblegum Smell and Tell.” Smell and Tell Workshop Series at 826 Michigan October 17, 2012

“Using Your Sense of Smell for Creative Inspiration” Smell and Tell Lecture Series at the Ann Arbor District Library, June 13, 2012.

“Smell and Tell: An Olfactory Writing Class.” Smell and Tell Workshop Series at 826 Michigan, June 6, 2012.

Notes:
A special thanks goes out to AADL librarian Erin Helmrich who didn't wrinkle her nose when I first proposed the Smell and Tell series in the winter of 2012; even after she smelled an indolic jasmine that smelled more like a horse stable than a bouquet of flowers.

Another thank you goes out to Glass Petal Smoke fans. Your enthusiasm, tweets and emails continue to inspire me.

The Glass Petal Smoke YouTube channel is not taking comments at this time, but you can reach me on Twitter if you'd like to connect on social media.

Images included in this post are: Fumée d’Ambre Gris by John Singer Sargent, a portrait of Mumtaz Mahal, and a photo of two Canadian women sporting accoutrement designed to protect their noses from the perils of snow circa 1939. 

In Pursuit of Olfaction: Life Lessons in Perfumery

Whenever I am asked to speak publicly about the sense of smell, and why I find olfaction so compelling, I return to four elementary truths related to my experience in perfumery. Colored by alchemy, science and mystery they reappear with a self-affirming quality that provides comfort and inspiration.

I hope you will take the time to explore the role of the sense of smell in your life. Whether you are drawn to it as an art or a science, it's hard not to fall in love with it.

***

 
You Are the Vessel

How we organize our memories, even the ones we prefer to ignore or suppress, defines who we are. The sense of smell and one’s identity are very closely linked. When you practice smelling, via your environment or perfume, you are sculpting the clay of identity.

Olfaction is about experience versus the kind of judgment that colors attachments to likes and dislikes. That is what makes the study of perfumes so compelling; it is a source of discovery every time you open the bottle. You may discover happiness or despair, but it's not about which feeling you experience; it is the experience itself that counts. The magic lies in the fact that the genie is not in the perfume; it is in you.

Balance

Difficult fragrances test our memories, our notions of balance between complements and contrasts, and truly, our very souls. If we allow some space to understand what might repel us or cause confusion, we open our minds to possibility. Even if we don't fall in love with what we find strange or different, we come to terms with a different way of relating to life through our senses. This is the diamond in perfumery; or any other art for that matter.

Transcendence

A scent comes and goes whether it is a single molecule or a more complex structure. As human beings our bodies are not subject to the kind of volatility that aroma molecules are, but that does not give us license to squander our time in the mortal world. Whether we believe we are here only once or for many lifetimes, a life well-lived is like a well-formulated perfume. We must refine our spirit to the point that we can transcend ourselves. It’s not about conquering the world “out there”; it is about conquering the world inside so we can shape the world around us and leave this world a better place.

Trusting the Invisible

You cannot see a smell. You may see an object responsible for an aroma and be influenced by its shape and color, but evaluating a scent is dependent on the mechanics of olfaction. The brain processes odor as feelings and memories first. This is why it is difficult to come up with words to describe smells. You have to trust the invisible when you are smell something; neurologically and molecularly. We are creatures of habit that demand proof. Olfaction requires patience and a Kierkegaardian leap of faith.

Suggested Reading:
What Does Your Sense of Smell Mean to You?
The Case for the Connoisseurship of Smell 
The Magic of Smell and Taste
The Olfactory Diary: A Tool for Developing Your Sense of Smell
Smell and Tell: Olfactory Writing Workshops
Anosmia Matters: Whether You Can Smell or Not

Notes:
The image that accompanies this article was created by Seymour List. The woman in the painting is his wife Mae. List is 80+ and has been married to Mae for over 50 years. List is retired and uses his computer to make art. Rights revert back to Seymour List.

The day after this post was published The Wall Street Journal ran an interesting story about the importance of smell calisthenics. You can read about it here.