Aoud Queen Roses by Montale

***** On Level 3 of the Tate Modern, London, theres a mesmerising collection of Mark Rothko paintings called The Seagram Murals. Like segments of primordial DNA, these large canvases dominate and impose themselves on those who enter this inner sanctum with their simple blocks of 2 colours entitled: red on maroon, and black on maroon. As part of a series they have a striking similarity to each other: literally variations on a theme with each painting expressing a density beyond the wall. Indeed, I recollect with fondness the time when my friends young son innocently and ironically remarked that they all look the same, daddy, as we adults admired this collection with degrees of intellectual critique! In this way Montales olfactory explorations with Aoud bear a striking artistic resemblance, as many of their dense creations are binary iterations comprising combinations of aoud and rose: the exquisite Aoud Queen Roses, for me, offering a centre-piece for Montales self-styled genre. As with the majority of Montales creations the impact of Aoud Queen Roses is massive and unforgettable: huge brush-strokes of sumptuous rose adorning a canvas of bewitching, seductive aoud. Devoid of thorns, this is a warm, full-bodied rose and, extraordinarily, able to summon new physiological life somehow when making contact with ones skin. The Aoud employed is similarly tantalisingly beautiful, resonating like an organic see-saw of contrasting qualities that flirt with dusty, earthy, animalic nuances, verging at times towards bitterness, to suggestions of impending sweetness as if masquerading as purest sandalwood. The crowning achievement, however, is the way in which the rose never withers on the vine, so to speak, and instead continues to flourish as if the aoud nourishes the flower above in symbiotic perfection. This creation sits closely to the wonderful Midnight Oud by Juliette Has A Gun and less close to the Rolls Royce that is FMs Portrait of a Lady. However, its closest neighbours are indubitably from Montales Collection itself: the latter a monumental achievement of opulence, grandeur and the highest artistic merit. Stunning!