Scent of a LACMA

What with wax and wicks being a $5-billion-a-year industry, it was perhaps inevitable that the Los Angeles County Museum of Art would offer its very own candle. Included in its nifty “Membership in a Box” package, which sells for $75 in the gift shop, is a one-year membership, coupons and an exclusive Illume 8-ounce “LACMA Aroma” candle that burns for 30 to 35 hours.

After ruling out a special deck of cards, the museum’s membership development team settled on a candle to spruce up the package. “A lot of us live in West L.A. and are very familiar with Illume,” says museum spokesman Adam Coyne of the 3rd Street store. The mu-seum candle has “a nice cinnamon aroma.”

Illume sales manager Nicole Mossman says that the raspberry sherbet-like color is exclusive to the museum, but the “mulled-wine fragrance was part of the Illume holiday line.” She reports that the Norton Simon museum and Getty Center haven’t come calling for their own versions yet, but notes that Illume has poured custom candles for the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

And So SoCal’s assessment of the LACMA aroma? It made one of us sneeze, but others found it as warm and pleasing as the light emanating from Georges de la Tour’s “Magdalen With the Smoking Flame” (circa 1638-’40, found in European Painting & Sculpture). We thought we’d ask a real artist to weigh in: How effectively does said candle capture LACMA?

“I was very disappointed,” says L.A. performance art pioneer The Dark Bob. “I expected the LACMA aroma candle to smell more like the real thing. You know, that mixture of organic tar, sulfur and Charlie cologne.”