‘If one truly loves nature, one finds beauty everywhere,’ Vincent van Gogh wrote to his brother, Theo, in a letter dating to 1874.
Nature often inspired van Gogh, whose globally famous namesake museum is in Amsterdam and houses many of his best works.
Floral Street, an independent and sustainable fragrance brand based in London, are also continually looking to nature to spark ideas.
So it makes sense that these two brands – the Van Gogh Museum and Floral Street – are teaming up for a four-year-long partnership they’re referring to as ‘fine art meets fine fragrance’.
It’s the first time the Van Gogh Museum has collaborated with a fragrance company and allowed the artist’s works to be interpreted in this way.
So if you ever wondered how the famous paintings of van Gogh’s might translate into scent, over the next four years you’ll get to find out.
Their first fragrance, launched this week, is called Sunflower Pop and is inspired by van Gogh’s renowned ‘Sunflowers, 1889’.
Starting with perhaps the most loved of his paintings, the packaging of the perfume even has ‘Sunflowers,1998’ printed into the bottle.
Speaking to Metro.co.uk, Floral Street founder Michelle Feeney says: ‘Our first launch from this collaboration had to be recognisable, it had to be positive, and it had to be flowers. Sunflowers give us all of these things.
‘It has taken the work of a past master to inspire a master perfumer, combining their talents for the modern day and translating the arts into an affordable, collectable piece of Van Gogh for everyone to enjoy.’
The EDP has notes of bergamot, mandarin, bellini accord, passion fruit, plum blossom, blue orris, vegan honey accord and crisp amber.
It’s sweet, fruity and has a citrusy layer that makes it feel joyful and sunny, which is perfect for this time of year.
In term of performance, the fragrance is lightweight, yet clings to the skin for hours.
The brand’s perfumer, Jerome Epinette, wanted to capture the beauty of the south of France (where van Gogh was residing at the time) in the scent and make the fragrance feel fun and warm. The goal is to make wearers feel ‘sun-soaked’, which Jerome believes is the true mood and essence of the painting.
Also taking notes from van Gogh’s own personal optimistic disposition at the time of this painting, the brand wanted a fragrance that was ‘happy, vibrant, expressive and bright’.
Van Gogh is known for his mental health issues, but during this period in France his letters seem to show that he was living through an uplifted and inspired phase of his life.
This is only the beginning of more fragrances to come (with candles potentially in the works too, as Floral Street branched out into home scents not too long ago).
You can only imagine how darker classics like ‘Starry Night’ might read, and we can’t wait to smell them.
Sunflower Pop starts from £24 and can be bought online.
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