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A book cover featuring a grid of classical paintings and the text “105 oeuvres decisives de la peinture occidentale montrees par Michel Butor”. A bright yellow label is laid over the bottom half, reading “Michel BUTOR” in bold black type.

Spassky Fischer’s vivid and graphic designs for an oil painting art book

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Date
26 February 2016

Formed in 2014, France-based studio Spassky Fischer has created work for a number of publishers, galleries and creative businesses. Having just launched its new website, the studio’s latest project for French publisher Flammarion is the perfect intro to Spassky Fischer’s frantic but stylish work.

Titled, 105 œuvres de la peinture occidentale, the art book showcases the writings of Michel Butor and offers a look at the history of Western painting. A rich subject matter, the design challenges the traditional painterly style it discusses with a bold and graphic cover. Blocks of colour are intersected by black lines in Mondrian-esque formations and these grids make their way into the pages of the book, as though they’re containing the material within. Chapters are separated by large sans serif type that crawls over the page and there’s swatches of colour throughout, highlighting the juxtaposition between styles.

An open book features the words “LA BOURGEOISE” spread across two pages in a bold, black sans-serif typeface. The text on the right page is rotated 90 degrees to run vertically. The book's edges are coloured in bright pink, red, yellow and green.
Above

Spassky Fischer: 105 œuvres de la peinture occidentale

An open book displays a spread featuring a classical painting of a crowded banquet scene. The left page shows a partial landscape and a bold black grid pattern over a white background.
Above

Spassky Fischer: 105 œuvres de la peinture occidentale

An open book displays a page of French text alongside a photograph of Marcel Duchamp’s sculpture, La Mariée mise à nu par ses célibataires, même. The artwork consists of a complex arrangement of wires and objects encased in two glass panels.
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Spassky Fischer: 105 œuvres de la peinture occidentale

An open art book displays a painting of a mother and child with another figure in a mountainous landscape. The opposite page contains a detailed French text titled “Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci, dit Léonard de Vinci”.
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Spassky Fischer: 105 œuvres de la peinture occidentale

An open book features the word “VERTIGES” split across two pages in a bold, black sans-serif typeface. The letters “TIGES” are rotated 90 degrees to run vertically down the centre fold.
Above

Spassky Fischer: 105 œuvres de la peinture occidentale

A book lies flat on a plain grey surface. The cover features a collage of classical paintings fragmented by a black grid, with a pink header that reads “105 oeuvres décisives de la peinture occidentale montrées par Michel Butor”.
Above

Spassky Fischer: 105 œuvres de la peinture occidentale

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About the Author

Rebecca Fulleylove

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Rebecca Fulleylove is a freelance writer and editor specialising in art, design and culture. She is also senior writer at Creative Review, having previously worked at Elephant, Google Arts & Culture, and It’s Nice That.

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