The 2014-2019 NWO Creative Industries research project In Search of Scents Lost investigated the role of olfaction during the avant-garde, chronologically and geographically between 1913 (first Futurist manifesto on smell) and 1959 (final Surrealist exhibition featuring a perfume).
At the core of this project were several olfactory reconstructions and interventions based on written art historical sources and chemical analysis (gas chromatography). In collaboration with the fragrance industry (International Flavors & Fragrances) and several heritage institutions (Rijksmuseum, Van Abbe Museum, and Roverto), Caro Verbeek explored these art historical scents and studied their effects ‘nose on’ with the goal of developing an awareness of a ‘period’ nose.