La Surprise

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• scent King

  January 29, 2024

  

  The official MCDI website states that Cécile Zarokian drew inspiration from ‘La Surprise’ by Fragonard a painting from the series ‘The Progress of Love’ housed in the Frick Collection in New York. The scene depicts an elegant young woman caught off guard in a fragrant garden by an admirer offering her a rose. Fragonard born in 1732 and a hallmark of French Rococo alongside Boucher and Chardin created this work between 1770 and 1773. On the canvas two young people blush in a lush mansion garden; he attempts to give her the rose while she seems hesitant with cherubs in the background. It is a moment of suspended time despite the movement brimming with romantic uncertainty. Fragonard was heavily influenced by Rembrandt’s light and Hals’ fluidity after travelling to the Netherlands. The painting was commissioned by Madame Du Barry Louis XV’s mistress though she later rejected it for its Rococo style. This work fits perfectly with ‘The Stolen Kiss’ from 1790 where two young people leave a night party in Paris for a cheek kiss a custom considered awkward at the time. One can appreciate his mastery of light and detail such as the silk dress perhaps due to his marriage to Marie-Anne Gérard daughter of a silk merchant. Fragonard renewed the tradition of gallant courtships in lush parks and aristocratic parties. The Rococo (1730–1770) is liberating cheerful and sensual standing in opposition to the dark and tragic Baroque. Louis XV requested scenes of pleasure against the sombre style of Versailles. Fragonard was a court painter from 1754 and following the Revolution of 1789 took refuge in Grasse. Although he was forgotten the Impressionists rediscovered him for his handling of light. In 2023 he gained renewed prominence with the auction of ‘The Young Woman with a Hat’. The perfume is a vintage romantic chypre blended with modern energy featuring green florals and an animalic musk base. Linking it to the Rococo: cardamom and musk provide sensuality peach suggests desire rhubarb and green accord evoke the verdure of the parks violet offers fresh air white flowers and freesia recall the gardens while patchouli and sandalwood convey elegance. The solar notes contribute the luminosity characteristic of the Rococo. Cécile Zarokian trained at the ISIPCA in Versailles is a guarantee of elegance and sensuality.