Quick answers
History
Huitième Art was born in 2010, launched by Pierre Guillaume to celebrate the eighth anniversary of his house Parfumerie Générale, founded in 2002. The name invokes cinema, traditionally called the eighth art, and sets the line’s programme: a perfumery of stories and images, more experimental than the numbered collection.
The line opened with an octet of perfumes presented together, among them Ambre Céruléen, Aube Pashmina, Sucre d’Ébène, Naïviris and Manguier Métisse. Each composition foregrounds a material or accord treated cleanly, almost graphically, in the material-led spirit that sets Huitième Art apart from the rest of Pierre Guillaume’s catalogue.
The collection then grew steadily. Myrrhiad appeared in 2011, Poudre de Riz in 2012, a powdery scent inspired by a novel, then Liqueur Charnelle in 2014, an aromatic woody with cognac, tobacco and dried-fruit accents. The line stayed true to its principle: free writing, where Pierre Guillaume explores sharper choices than in his main collection.
From 2018, Pierre Guillaume folded Huitième Art into his world gathered under the Pierre Guillaume Paris label, where the line became the Black Collection. The perfumes are still composed and made in the Auvergne ateliers, in full continuity with the founding house. On specialist databases these scents now appear under the name Pierre Guillaume.
Cinema as a thread
The name Huitième Art is not decorative: it means cinema and places the line within a logic of images and scenarios. Where Pierre Guillaume’s numbered collection organises materials by figured themes, Huitième Art embraces a freer narration, each perfume read as a scene or a character.
That orientation translates into an avowedly material-led approach: amber, iris, sugar, powdered rice, myrrh or liqueur are foregrounded and treated cleanly. The line thus serves as Pierre Guillaume’s experimental ground, at the margin of his main collection, which is why it could become, as the Black Collection, the most contrasted side of his world.
For the visitor, Huitième Art lights up a precise facet of Pierre Guillaume’s work: a perfumer who likes to step out of the numbered frame to compose more narrative olfactory objects.
Perfumes
The line opened with a set of perfumes presented in 2010, later joined by a few compositions. Here are the most identifiable, all signed by Pierre Guillaume.
| Year | Perfume | Perfumer | Olfactory family |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Ambre Céruléen | Pierre Guillaume | Powdery amber |
| 2010 | Sucre d’Ébène | Pierre Guillaume | Sweet wood |
| 2010 | Naïviris | Pierre Guillaume | Iris |
| 2010 | Manguier Métisse | Pierre Guillaume | Fruity wood |
| 2010 | Aube Pashmina | Pierre Guillaume | Green aromatic |
| 2011 | Myrrhiad | Pierre Guillaume | Resinous myrrh |
| 2012 | Poudre de Riz | Pierre Guillaume | Powdery floral |
| 2014 | Liqueur Charnelle | Pierre Guillaume | Aromatic wood |
Signature
The signature of Huitième Art rests on a material-led stance: each perfume foregrounds a material or accord treated cleanly, almost graphically. Pierre Guillaume’s hand is recognisable, but with a freer, more experimental tone than in his numbered collection.
The line’s repertoire covers ambers, powdery notes, resins and sweet woods, with a taste for contrast and narrative inspirations, from novel to film. It is this more contrasted tonality that justifies its move under the Black Collection name.
A cinema line by Pierre Guillaume, material-led and narrative, freer than his numbered collection, now his Black Collection.
Key characteristics
FAQ
Sources
- Fragrantica: launch of Huitième Art by Pierre Guillaume (2010 octet)
- Now Smell This: Huitième Art Parfums, new fragrances
- ÇaFleureBon: Huitième Art, Pierre Guillaume gets experimental
- Basenotes: interview with Pierre Guillaume
- Pierre Guillaume Paris: official biography (official site)
- Parfumo: Pierre Guillaume / Huitième Art