L'Arte di Gucci (1991)
by Gucci

It's truly a shame that Gucci discontinued this beauty. Fans of dark rosy chypres, particularly those in the mossy 1980s style, will likely go nuts over L'Arte di Gucci, .

If you've ever smelled Van Cleef & Arpels Pour Homme, you'll have a pretty good idea of what this smells like, and in fact this could have passed as a "Pour Femme" version of that masterpiece. It starts off rather sharply but soon mellows out into something very brooding and mysterious. It blends its rose and moss notes seamlessly, and together they project a very melancholy, almost grim, aura around you. L'Arte di Gucci definitely has austere attitude in spades, exuding an overall dark mood like few other fragrances I've ever smelled.

This is Gucci's best fragrance, and a masterpiece for sure.

MY RATING: 9/10

2nd December, 2010. (Last Edited: 6th December, 2010.)

I have to say this is one of my all-time favourite fragrances. Such a shame it is discontinued as I don't like any other Gucci fragrances. I have the black bottle eau de parfum which is very rare. I am very much into rose based scents, but this is not your typical floral. In fact I would not even class this as a floral but rather a chypre. It is quite potent, dark and viciously powerful. It is sad there are not many frangrances around like this one these days.

6th May, 2010.

I would love to do this fragrance some justice, as I am stupefied by its wiles.

There was a small subset of mid-eighties to early nineties rose chypres, which were very dark, very animalic, very complicated, and all about sensuality. Some notable fragrances in this tiny genre are L'Insolent, La Nuit, Parure, Knowing, Jil Sander 4, Parfum de Peau, Diva, and Mackie. These comprise my all-time favorite women's scents, and I mourn their gradual disappearance all the time (Where's the LOVE?). New offerings along these lines, e.g. Soir de Lune and Oliban.. just don't do it for me!

Anyway, the queen of the lot is clearly L'Arte. It's the smokiest, most heady, most passionate one. And it also the most elegant.

It has all the sex-appeal and swagger of La Nuit,
all the elegance and majesty of Diva,
the quirky little cigarettes and chutzpah quality of L'Insolent,
and the seamless blending and savoir faire of JS 4.

Yup, it's got it all.

It also has a drydown so deep, sharp and satisfying, it causes me to fill my lungs instinctively each time I smell myself. And to breathe out very slowly, so as not to let it exit my nose too quickly.

Clearly, I treasure this one. And sadly I must; it is getting nigh impossible to get! But that I could slather myself day in and day out!

I recommend this black, sylphine, and intemperate beauty to fans of any of the above-mentioned fragrances. You may be knocked out.

27th February, 2010.

This is a quality fragrance, but I should warn that the civet in this latches onto my skin chemistry and shouts from the hill-tops, combining with the rose to form a jammy yet fecal note that makes it unwearable. It's fine on paper though, so sample this one for yourself before hunting down a bottle of this discontinued fragrance.

I find this a fairly linear rose chypre strong on the animalic elements, a civet-hued moss forming a backdrop to a rose that's somewhere between jammy and transparent, but not particularly natural. Sillage is good and longevity is Herculean.

If you're looking for a modern replacement, Serge Lutens' Rose de Nuit is related but darker and more complex, using a leathery castoreum instead of civet. Estee Lauder's Knowing is a much more readily available designer, also in a similar floral-chypre vein.

Update February 2010:

All the above review still applies, but I have really grown to love this fragrance, and now own a bottle. I guess I'm a lot more tolerant of those funky notes!

12nd July, 2009. (Last Edited: 19th February, 2010.)

L'Arte di Gucci is a twist on the late 80's & early 90's power chypres (think Ungaro Diva, Palmoma Picasso, Niki de Saint Phalle) but L'Arte has all the emphasis on the rose. a dark heady rose with that woody punch. that punchy aldehyde burst warms up the rose, which is sweetened (only slightly, this is not a sweet scent!) with what seems like a touch of honey. the woody base starts to glow- there is a whisper of musk that peeks out too. then a sneaky green note that is hidden (vetiver i think) teases. a very close to the skin oakmoss sexy base keeps you sniffing your wrist, wondering where this scent will turn next. a beautifully complex scent that changes & warms from spritz to drydown. adding: i do NOT get even a hint o Ce Soir Ou Jamais- which i find sour and flat. and, agreed, the bottle is totally bizarre, but the gorgeous scent makes me forgive that. this is a sadly discontinued scent, but available online at surprisiningly reasonable cost. i was lucky enough to also find the shower/bath gel, which is also sublime.

20th October, 2008.

I used this when I was in graduate school. Can't remember the exact scent anymore as that was more than 10 years ago but I do remember the reactions I got from it. A married religious minister classmate even grabbed my wrist and ran the tip of his nose from my wrist through the whole length of my forearm. Very good scent but turns good men bad!

19th October, 2008.