Interviewed by Irina Malkova
Jose, I want to say right away that, preparing for a meeting with you, I plunged into the bright world of painting, love, passion and beauty - into the wonderful world of art and perfumery created by you and the Brazilian artist Zhores Machado. For a couple of moments, I even forgot about the perfumes themselves and the line of cosmetics for skin care.
Jose: Can't imagine how glad I am to hear that! Thank you, because such a long story cannot be simply invented - you need to live with it. The concept of Eisenberg perfumes, first of all, reflects my philosophy of life as a person who is passionately passionate about art in all its manifestations. And I want to confess to you as a Russian magazine - I am a big fan of the Russian soul.
True ?
José: I adore Russia and I am just fanatically devoted to it; I am pro-Russian with all my heart. Russian people are brave people who have to suffer all the time. That’s why they are much stronger than we Europeans think. It’s impossible to conquer a Russian man by force, he can be conquered only by beauty, mind, soul ... Remember when Napoleon came to conquer Moscow, he saw a completely empty city - this shows what Russia is, and only by studying history, you can understand how it works. Russians, for example, are the only people in the world who can laugh and cry at the same time. Try to explain this in Dubai - can people laugh and cry at the same time? You will be told that you are crazy. And why ? Because only in Russians there are so many emotions, so much passion.
Well, thanks for trying to understand the mysterious Russian soul.
Jose: And how much culture in Russia! For example, in September of this year, a personal exhibition of the works of my friend and artist Zhores Machado, entitled "Jazz by Mondrian," was held at the St. Petersburg Museum of Theater and Music. It was he who wrote to my collection of perfumes all the paintings that were exhibited there. His style is a combination of South American rhythms with the traditions of European Art Deco. The dance of passion, in which men and women revolve on his canvases, is the embodiment of the sacred essence of life.
Your union is one of those rare cases when two creators have demonstrated the fullness of art. And how did you meet Zhorez Machado?
José: Once in a gallery in the south of France, I saw a small picture of Machado in a very simple frame. I asked to add light and immediately realized - it is brilliant! I asked the gallery owner if Machado could paint a picture to order. I was told that before Jaurez, whose works are in all major museums in the world, he never did, but will try to make an exception for me. After some time, he painted for me a picture that still hangs in my bedroom - this is what I see every day, falling asleep and waking up. She is not among his works for my collection of perfumes, but is very, very unusual. I was so inspired by it that I offered him a joint project L 'Art Du Parfum - art in perfumes or perfume as art. We developed 13 perfumes, and for each fragrance Zhore wrote a picture reflecting its essence.
How was your teamwork?
Jose: We talked a lot, and every minute, every second of our conversation, I told him about how I want the paintings to reflect my perfumes. There were a lot of problems because of this. I don’t remember how many times he left me. He said: I do not want your money, I do not want to see you, you spoil everything. But I said: Zhores, we have an agreement. We must complete this creative project. How many conversations, how many meetings! We argued, interrupted each other, and proved our position. We went through everything. You see, because he, as an artist, had to reflect on the canvas the way I imagined love, passion or something else. And someday, I promise, I will release a film about how we did it. I still have an incredible amount of his paintings, which did not go into the collection, because I bought every Machado canvas, and today they are all stored in my house in Monte Carlo.
By the way, you have been living in Monaco for more than 35 years, while you are Italian.
José: Yes, I am Italian, but I am an honorary citizen of Monte Carlo. Why Monaco Because this country is the quintessence of two cultures, two countries - France and Italy. She personifies the best of Italy and the best of France. There I can calmly create and work.
It must be admitted that Machado in his paintings portrayed women who were far from slender by current standards. Was this done on purpose?
José: I’ll tell you this - I’m 69 years old, and in my life I have never met a man who admitted that he loves thin women. Never! Only women think men like the thin. Men do not like skinny! Please remember this. In thin girls there is never and never was passion. She simply has nowhere to settle there. The world of passion is a completely different world, far from glossy standards. Moreover, perfection is not attractive. Perfection is only good for taking photos. And when a woman begins to say that she doesn’t eat, doesn’t go there, “don’t touch my hair, I’m just from a beauty salon” - it’s unbearably boring. Such things block passion. And when there is no passion, there is no life.
But for the Middle East, perfume packaging with Machado paintings had to be changed, right?
Jose: The Middle East has its own traditions and rules. And due to respect for this country, we changed the packaging, removed the paintings and even changed some names of perfumes. For example, Diabolique perfumes are now called Dia, Love Affair - Love (they will be available in February 2015 for Valentine's Day). Moreover, on our official website we made a special page for fans from the Middle East. With its help, we want to convey the idea that this is not a fake, but the same perfume, only in a more strict, concise package.
You use a fairly sophisticated technology in your line of skin care cosmetics. Could you tell about her?
José: For 15 years we have been painstakingly studying the effects of biocomponents on the skin and came to the conclusion that skin has a memory. So a special restoring formula was discovered. Research took place at Pavia University, specializing in medical cell research. According to the results of the formula, the title of scientific discovery was given and the following name was given: Trio-Moleculaire. All Eisenberg cosmetics products are based on this formula and have antioxidant properties, nourish and saturate cells with oxygen, stimulate the processes of cellular activity. The formula is based only on natural ingredients and gives immediate results. So I'm immersed not only in the world of art, but also in the world of technology. These two facets of my personality have led to what you see now - to the world of Eisenberg.
