On September 10, a crowd of family, friends and beauty industry executives gathered at The Nassau County Museum of Art to view a special retrospective exhibit featuring the fragrance and cosmetic packaging designs of Marc Rosen. The museum is located 20 miles east of New York City on the former Frick Estate, a 145-acre property in Roslyn Harbor on Long Island’s Gold Coast.

The invitation-only event, titled Glamour Icons, after Rosen’s book by the same name, was curated to recognize cosmetic packaging as an art form. The exhibit was capped with a champagne and high tea party hosted by Juliana Terian, president of Rallye Automotive Group, and the Museum’s Board of Trustees.

See photos from the event in this slideshow.

The Tea was sponsored by Rallye Automotive Group; the exhibition by Arkay Packaging, Pochet du Courval and Qualipac. The presidents of all four organizations—Juliana Terian, Arkay’s Mitchell Kaneff, Boris Zilkovic and Eric Vanin, were on hand.

Highlights of the exhibition included Rosen’s designs for Elizabeth Arden, Karl Lagerfeld, Chloe, Burberry, Perry Ellis. Jill Stuart, Elizabeth Arden, Ellen Tracy, Nina Ricci, Lucia Magnani, P&G Beaute, Joan Rivers and Christina Aguilera. One feature in the exhibition is the multi-faceted glass orb bottle he designed for the perfume of his wife, film star Arlene Dahl. The exhibition also presents two of the porcelain collections he created for Elizabeth Arden Christmas at the beginning of his career based upon his collaborations with the Royal Pavilion at Brighton and the Topkapi Palace in Istanbul. Along with photos, memorabilia and personal items from his collection, the exhibition includes a selection of vintage perfume bottles that have inspired him, on loan from the collection of Ken Leach.

A winner of seven Fragrance Foundation Awards, Rosen says, "I am so grateful to the Nassau County Museum of Art for this vernissage. As I see it, the Metropolitan Museum’s Costume Institute did this with fashion years ago, and now it is our turn."

A capstone to Rosen's career, the exhibition is slated to travel to other museums around the country. “As with fashion design, the creation of cosmetic packing is an art form. Marc Rosen broke this barrier that for too long has separated the worlds of art and design, and the Nassau County Museum of Art was privileged to have been the first venue for this important exhibition,” says Charles A. Riley II, PhD, the new director of the museum.

The Nassau County Museum of Art is housed in a regal Beaux Arts mansion in in Roslyn Harbor. It is open Tuesday-Sunday, 11 a.m.-4:45 p.m. The exhibition of Marc Rosen’s work runs through November 5, 2017.

Read More

Slideshow: Marc Rosen & Guests Celebrate Museum Exhibition