Perfum Bottles in Art History

This exhibition gives a wide overview of the use of perfume bottles by artists in Art history.

Not only prints but also original works realized by artists since the end of the 18th century!

Marcel Duchamp, Kazimir Malevitsj, Caflo Yrot, Jammie Nicholas, Orlan, Peter de Cupere, ...

Overview of the exhibition

Perfume bottle designed by Kazimir Malevich in 1908

Eau de cologne “SEVERNY”

NOVAYA ZARYA Perfume Factory
(Moscow, Imperial Russia,
Soviet Union / USSR, Russian Federation)

Design: 1908 ( size: 19.7 cm h)

In production: 1911 - 1990’s

Parfume bottle designed by Malevich

 Kazimir Malevich <-> Caflo Yrot 

Caflo Yrot (Ukraine 1874 - 1970)
Le Temps Vient,
Original date: 1917 original version is lost
In 1952 Caflo Yrot re-made 3 versions of the original for his son and daughter.

Caflo Yrot used the perfume bottle designed by Malevich.
He changed the perfume with black dirty oil (original version), in 1952 he used fresh black oil.

He designed a different label for each perfume bottle filled with the oil.

Marcel Duchamp - Belle Haleine - Eau de Voilette, 1921

In the exhibition visitors could see a little version of  the perfume bottle 'Un Air Embaumé' by Rigaud. The bigger version was used by Marcel Duchamp to create his 'Belle Haleine - Eau de Voilette' in 1921. Visitors could smell also the perfume of 'Un Air Embaumé' via a found specimen of the perfume used to promote the perfume in history.

Marcel Duchamp’s “Belle Haleine" from Jean de Oliveira on Vimeo.

Perfume bottles and concepts by Caflo Yrot

Whole his life, he never exhibited his works. Caflo Yrot is his pseudonym, because of political and personal reasons, he never wanted to use his proper name. Peter de Cupere discovered him through his doctoral thesis at the PXL Mad in Hasselt Belgium where he is teaching at the Media Lab Free Arts and where he coordinates the Master Studio Art Vision Lab. It was the son of Caflo Yrot who contacted Peter de Cupere and brought him into contact with his father’s works. 

One should place the work of Caflo Yrot in the spirit of the age. Art was at end of the 1800, beginning of the 1900 not so extremely progressive in Ukraine.  

Le Parfum de Sang (the perfume of blood), 1899

As a medicine man, Caflo Yrot was strongly interested in the body and the scents of the human body. He found the most personal perfume to be the proper blood. Nevertheless blood has a rather metallic smell. Blood was life’s perfume for Caflo. Without blood one cannot live, but one cannot smell their life’s perfume because it is inside our body. To be able to perceive it, he came up with the idea of a perfume pump connected with a needle. By pricking in your body and dispersing the blood on your own skin, one could smell your own life’s perfume. An absurd idea, but very daring for his time.

Parfum de l’air, 1902 - 1932
Probable date of the original is 1902 but was signedin 1932.

L’heure Blueu?, 1913

Perfume bottlereplaced in 1994by his son,original (?)Bottlewas broken
Parfum l’Heure Bleu, Guerlain

Text on the card is written with the bleu painted perfume.

Plus / Pluie d’un nez

Date unknown

We dedicated an exhibition to Caflo Yrot on next link: CAFLO YROT 1874 - 1970 "Solve et Coagula" Dissolve and unite

Peter de Cupere