Hennessy, Matisse, And The Marriage Of Perfume And Art

Seeing as how anything that bears the name Hennessy immediately evokes a picture of luxury (we’re imagining rich mahogany leather and an impressive floor-to-ceiling private library), it’s hardly shocking that Kilian Hennessy, perfumer and heir to a long line of cognac makers, didn’t skimp when conceiving the first collaborative effort for his eponymous line of fragrances. Enlisting the artistic services of painter Sophie Matisse (that would be the great-granddaughter of Henri Matisse), he released 50 hand-painted bottles and boxes for the holiday season, allowing would-be collectors the ability to choose which of the seven fragrances in his L’Oeuvre Noire line to put inside. At $1,500 each, they aren’t cheap, but so it goes for investment pieces. The bottles are available at select Saks Fifth Avenue stores and Bergdorf Goodman in New York City for a limited time.