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Chandler Burr

Perfume Expert,Curator of Olfactory Art Museum of Arts and Design

Chandler Burr
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New York, NY, USA
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Chandler Burr Biography

Chandler Burr is a journalist, author, and curator of olfactory art. Burr created The New York Times perfume critic's position, which he occupied from 2006-2010. In 2010 he left The Times to establish the world's first department of olfactory art, at the Museum of Arts and Design in New York City. His first exhibition, The Art of Scent 1889-2012, ran from Nov. 22, 2012 to May 3, 2013.

Burr was born in Chicago and raised in Washington, D.C. He graduated from Principia College. He began his journalism career in 1987 as a stringer in The Christian Science Monitor's Southeast Asia bureau and later became a Contributing Editor to U.S. News and World Report. He earned a Masters degree in international economics and Japan studies from the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) at Johns Hopkins.

In 1993, Burr wrote a cover story, "Homosexuality and Biology," for The Atlantic, which became the basis for his first book, A Separate Creation: The Search for the Biological Origins of Sexual Orientation (1996), an account of the scientific search for the origins of sexual orientation. The book was published by Hyperion, a subsidiary of the Walt Disney Company, and its argument that sexual orientation is inborn prompted a call by Southern Baptists to boycott Disney films and theme parks.

Burr's book The Emperor of Scent, published in 2003, tells how the French-Italian scientist Luca Turin originated the theory about the functioning of the sense of smell. As a result, The New Yorker proposed that Burr describe the creation of a perfume. Burr's March 2005 New Yorker article recounted Jean-Claude Ellena's year-long creation, in Paris and Grasse, of Hermès' Un Jardin sur le Nil. Burr's next book The Perfect Scent: A Year Inside the Perfume Industry in Paris & New York, based on the New Yorker article and published in 2008, describes Ellena's work parallel to the story of Sarah Jessica Parker's creation of her perfume "Lovely" in New York City under the license aegis of the perfume corporation Coty.

From August 2006 until the end of 2010, Burr was perfume critic of The New York Times. His column, "Scent Notes", appeared first in T, The New York Times' style magazine, and later on the Times' blog. Upon the column's creation, Stefano Tonchi, style editor of The New York Times Sunday Magazine and T, was quoted, "The Times will be the first to cover the fragrance industry and perfume in the way it does movies, books, and theater."

In December 2010, Burr left The Times to create and become Curator of the Department of Olfactory Art at the Museum of Arts and Design in New York City. The Museum stated that Burr would create "exhibitions and programs that illuminate scent as an art form" and present "seminal works by some of the greatest scent artists of the late-19th, 20th and early-21st centuries." The New York Times reported that when asked about his refusal to display packaging or bottles, Burr replied "[T]he smell [is] the work of art. I'm opposed to the photon. If you have to see it, I'm not interested."

The Art of Scent 1889-2012 displayed twelve works of "olfactory art" and exhibited and exhibited them as works from "a pure art form born near the turn of the 20th century, like Modernism itself," The New York Times reported. "The fundamental goal," said Burr, "is placing scent as an artistic medium alongside painting, sculpture, and music." The works included Jicky (1889) by Aimé Guerlain, Ernest Beaux's Chanel N° 5 (1921), and Olivier Cresp's Angel (1992), which Burr discussed as, respectively, works of Romanticism, Modernism, and Surrealism.

His first novel, You Or Someone Like You, was published by Ecco Press in summer 2009.

Burr conducts a series of perfume dinners around the world.

He lives in New York City.

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Speaker profile last updated by AAE Talent Team on 01/27/2024.

Chandler Burr Speaking Topics

  • Scent Lectures

    As curator of the Museum of Arts and Design’s olfactory exhibitions, the first of which is titled “The Art of Scent: 1889-2011,” Burr gives fully interactive talks on the masterworks of scent art, smelling along with the audience 1889’s “Jicky” by Guerlain, 1921’s “Chanel No 5,” the first great modernist work of scent art, “J’adore” and “L’Eau d’Issey” and “Angel” and other seminal works of art history He takes audiences on a tour of the planet’s olfactory geography, blended with a look inside the perfume industry and a course in the construction great perfumes by Chanel, Hermès, and Tom Ford, and more. Burr’s presentations are experiential, unique and truly a feast for the senses.

  • The Perfect Scent

    Based on his critically acclaimed book, The Perfect Scent, Burr gives audiences a truly inside look inside the perfume industry. One of the nation’s top experts on perfume, his presentation is lively, interactive, informative and entertaining. From the history of perfume to its 5.1billion dollar market today, Burr’s speeches are truly a feast for the senses.

  • One-Of-a-kind Scent Dinners

    What if, from your seat at a dinner or in an audience, you could smell the scent of Laotian red ginger, as sharply dry-astringent-spicy as a blade slicing a heat mirage, or the cool, mesmerizing green watery citrus rosiness of Rwandan geranium leaf, the breathtaking fragrance of Peruvian pink peppercorn (like fresh peonies with a dust of habanero pepper), the smoky, charred-earth, hypnotic rich eeriness of Ugandan vanilla, or the almost-edible woodiness of cedar from Morocco’s windy Atlas mountains? Well now you can.

    Collaborating with great chefs, Burr also hosts highly interactive Scent Dinners, masterclasses in gourmand scents in which he creates an olfactory menu of food-based scent raw materials (absolutes of Indian cinnamon, Haitian rum, and Madagascar vanilla) and the perfumes made from them, taking diners through their structure and artistry; the chef then prepares a culinary menu, each course translating Burr’s scent courses into flavor courses.

    Guests smell the raw materials and perfumes, interact with Burr and each other, and find their sensory perception of the very world around them changed and deepened. Burr has created his Scent Dinners with world-class chefs from Gordon Finn of Alto in New York, Fabrice Guisset of Las Ventanas in Cabo, Mexico, Lea Linster at Le Bernardin New York, and Samuel Benne of Lapérouse Paris, to Vito Mollica of the Four Seasons Florence, Simon Lau of Aquavit in Brazil, and Nicholas Schneller of the Four Season Bangkok.

    Corporate Events: Lively, fully interactive, informative, and sensorial, the Scent Dinners make excellent corporate events, both within corporations and as a gift for companies, resorts, and restaurants to offer their best guests. Scent Dinners are excellent PR and marketing tools to raise consciousness for a venue or cause, and provide your guests with a memorable and unique experience.

Chandler Burr Videos

  • TEDxDanubia 2011 - Chandler Burr - Scent Art
    TEDxDanubia 2011 - Chandler Burr - Scent Art
  • Scent Final
    Scent Final
  • PopTech Scent Dinner with Chandler Burr
    PopTech Scent Dinner with Chandler Burr
See All Videos »

Chandler Burr Books

  • You or Someone Like You: A Novel
    You or Someone Like You: A Novel
  • The Perfect Scent: A Year Inside the Perfume Industry in Paris and New York
    The Perfect Scent: A Year Inside the Perfume Industry in Paris and New York

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  • What topics does Chandler Burr speak about?

    Chandler Burr is a keynote speaker and industry expert whose speaking topics include Business, Marketing, Sales.

  • Where does Chandler Burr travel from?

    Chandler Burr generally travels from New York, NY, USA, but can be booked for private corporate events, personal appearances, keynote speeches, or other performances. For more details, please contact an AAE Booking agent.

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Chandler Burr is a keynote speaker and industry expert who speaks on a wide range of topics such as Scent Lectures, The Perfect Scent and One-Of-a-kind Scent Dinners. The estimated speaking fee range to book Chandler Burr for your event is $10,000 - $20,000. Chandler Burr generally travels from New York, NY, USA and can be booked for (private) corporate events, personal appearances, keynote speeches, or other performances. Similar motivational celebrity speakers are Giuseppe Stigliano, Shira Abel, Myron Golden, David Allison and James Hackett. Contact All American Speakers for ratings, reviews, videos and information on scheduling Chandler Burr for an upcoming live or virtual event.

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