Chandler Burr
He transformed perfume from a mere accessory into a serious art form, curating it for museums and dissecting its science for the public.
Born 1963 (age 63)·American journalist·Birthday: December 30·Baby Boomers
Biography
Chandler Burr is a critic who treats scent the way others treat painting or symphony. Trained as an economist and journalist, he turned a personal fascination into a radical career pivot, becoming the first perfume critic for The New York Times. His writing demystifies the often-opaque fragrance industry, reviewing scents with the analytical rigor of a wine critic. His most audacious move was convincing the Museum of Arts and Design in New York to let him create 'The Art of Scent,' an exhibition that presented fragrances as standalone works of art, displayed in darkened rooms without bottles or branding. Burr argues that our most underrated sense deserves a critical language of its own, and he has spent decades building that lexicon.
Baby Boomers
1946–1964
The largest generation in history at the time. Shaped by postwar prosperity, the Vietnam War, the sexual revolution, and Watergate. They questioned every institution their parents built — then ran them.
Chandler was born in 1963, placing them squarely in the Baby Boomers. The events that shaped this generation — postwar prosperity, civil rights, Vietnam, and the counterculture — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Chandler Was Born
The biggest hits of 1963
#1 Movie
Cleopatra
Best Picture
Tom Jones
#1 TV Show
Beverly Hillbillies
Chandler's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1963Born
JFK assassinated in Dallas; Martin Luther King's 'I Have a Dream' speech
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $13,100Min wage: $1.25/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"Sugar Shack" — Jimmy Gilmer & The FireballsBest Picture: Tom Jones
1968Started school
Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy assassinated
Gas: $0.34/galHome: $14,950Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"Hey Jude" — The BeatlesBest Picture: Oliver!
1976Became a teenager
Apple Computer founded; US bicentennial
Gas: $0.59/galHome: $29,300Min wage: $2.30/hrPresident: Gerald Ford"Silly Love Songs" — WingsBest Picture: Rocky
1979Could drive
Iran hostage crisis begins; Three Mile Island accident
Gas: $0.86/galHome: $37,900Min wage: $2.90/hrPresident: Jimmy Carter"My Sharona" — The KnackBest Picture: Kramer vs. Kramer
1981Could vote
MTV launches; first Space Shuttle flight; AIDS identified
Gas: $1.31/galHome: $52,300Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Bette Davis Eyes" — Kim CarnesBest Picture: Chariots of Fire
1984Turned 21
Apple Macintosh introduced
Gas: $1.13/galHome: $59,800Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"When Doves Cry" — PrinceBest Picture: Amadeus
1993Turned 30
European Union officially established
Gas: $1.11/galHome: $86,600Min wage: $4.25/hrPresident: Bill Clinton"I Will Always Love You" — Whitney HoustonBest Picture: Schindler's List
2003Turned 40
US invades Iraq; Human Genome Project completed
Gas: $1.59/galHome: $146,000Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: George W. Bush"In Da Club" — 50 CentBest Picture: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
2013Turned 50
Edward Snowden reveals NSA surveillance programs
Gas: $3.53/galHome: $152,800Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Barack Obama"Thrift Shop" — Macklemore & Ryan LewisBest Picture: 12 Years a Slave
2023Turned 60
ChatGPT goes mainstream; Israel-Hamas war begins
Gas: $3.52/galHome: $361,600Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Joe Biden"Flowers" — Miley CyrusBest Picture: Oppenheimer
2026Age 63 today
Gas: $3.91/galPresident: Donald Trump
Key Achievements
- Served as the first perfume critic for The New York Times from 2006 to 2010.
- Curated the groundbreaking exhibition 'The Art of Scent 1889-2012' at the Museum of Arts and Design in New York.
- Authored 'The Emperor of Scent,' a book about scientist Luca Turin's controversial theory of smell.
- Created and taught 'The Osmology of Design: A History of Scent' at New York University.
Did You Know?
He is openly gay and wrote a memoir, 'A Separate Creation,' about the search for a biological basis of homosexuality.
Before focusing on scent, he worked as a foreign correspondent in Tokyo.
He has described his method of reviewing perfume as 'blind,' often not knowing the brand or price when he first smells it.
He is a vocal critic of the fragrance industry's marketing, focusing criticism solely on the scent itself.
“Perfume is the only art that enters the body. We hang paintings on walls. We play music in spaces. But we actually take molecules of art inside of us.”
