MEMBER STORIES
MEMBER STORIES
Firmenich Celebrates Scents of the French Riviera
The Lovers( 1937) on loan from the Israel Museum
U nder perfect Provence blue-skies, Firmenich Perfumer Ashley Wilberding Balavoine presented“ The Scents of the French Riviera” on April 19 th 2017 at The Marie Selby Botanical Gardens in Sarasota, Florida. The lecture was in connection with the Marc Chagall exhibit at the gardens, The Color of Dreams, featuring the masterwork painting The Lovers( 1937) on loan from the Israel Museum, Jerusalem. Balavoine spoke about the history of perfume, the language of perfumery, the role of the Perfumer along with an interactive olfactive presentation where the 220 guests were able to smell raw materials native to Provence such as Jasmine, Lavender, May Rose, Bergamot and Orange Flower.
The event culminated in a painting-to-perfume adaptation: designed exclusively for Selby Gardens, Balavoine created The Lovers perfume which was inspired by Chagall’ s The Lovers painting. The Lovers fragrance was influenced by the colors, mood and imagery of Provence in Chagall’ s painting. Drawing from the region where Chagall painted his masterpiece and where she first studied Perfumery, the fragrance was built with natural raw materials from the South of France. In order to evoke the deep blues and warm purples in the painting she employed Orris absolute and Lavender oil. Violet Leaf absolute offered a rich, dark green foliage element to mirror that of the painting. The Perfumer took creative license to interpret the bright red flowers as May Roses in the heart of the perfume. Surprisingly, after many trials, the top note became Cardamom, an exotic spice not native to Provence. That unexpected freshness helped transport the fragrance to a distant place; in parallel, we are moved by Chagall’ s dream-like imagery. This was the favorite spice of her father, Stephen Wilberding, whose idea it was to create an exclusive fragrance associated with the exhibition, but had unexpectedly passed away before the event. He was certainly there in spirit.
Each guest received The Lovers perfume, a gift from Firmenich.
FRAGRANCENOTES. ORG 39