Scent Visions: Smell in Art
There is a fascinating book for academics and historians that examines the iconography and symbolism of scent in nineteenth-century art and visual culture. It’s called Scent Visions: Smell in Art, 1850 – 1914 by author Christina Bradstreet who looks at fragrant imagery in the works of John Everett Millais, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Simeon Soloman and George Frederic Watts who spearheaded a preoccupation with scent in British, European and American art and design. Bradstreet’s rich analysis of paintings, perfume posters and other works of visual culture demonstrates how scent reflected societal norms of the time.
This is particularly timely in 2024 as museums and galleries are frequently adding fragrance to exhibitions and shows – particularly fashion exhibits. Gallery directors are adding to visual experiences by having scent stations whereby guests smell a particular aroma and then look at say a painting or a piece of fashion. Many galleries actually have perfumers create exclusive fragrances for shows now.
“This book explores the role of smell in Western art and visual culture in the period from circa 1850 to 1914,” explains the author. “It shows the variety of ways in which, and the diversity of reasons why, artists were inspired by and engaged with smell, and how they grappled with its visual representation. In doing so, it reveals how an attention to olfactory symbolism reflects aesthetic trends and historic concerns.” And while she surveys a wide spectrum of art movements, she puts her focus on Victorian Aesthetic paintings. She discovers that Pre-Raphaelite painter John Everett Millais produced six scent-infused paintings in a two-year period of work.
Scent Visions is an important academic work that gives a new appreciation for how artists depicted beliefs about scent into visual works of art.
