The book series created to mark the centennial of Gustave Fayet’s birth has been expanded with a second volume devoted to Gustave Fayet’s Imaginary Gardens, serving as an extension of the exhibition currently on view at Abbaye Saint-André.

From 1910–1912 until his death in 1925, Fayet created a unique form of botany, filled with dreamlike plants, imagined paradises, and whimsical flowers, which we have sought to bring to light through this new edition.

Gustave Fayet’s *Les Fleurs imaginaires* draws its inspiration from the painter-winemaker’s agricultural background, his sensitive observation of landscapes and gardens, and the influence of his friendship with Odilon Redon.

A graphic design conceived as a tribute
to the extraordinary flowers of Fayet

Conceived as a true work of art, this illustrated edition presents a herbarium born of Gustave Fayet’s imagination. The artistic direction draws inspiration from the soft tones of the artist’s blotting paper, in a style that is both poetic and sensitive.

A tribute to Fayet’s extraordinary flowers, the artist’s signature style, born of her fascination with nature, landscapes, and science.

From the Dragonne vegetable garden to Igny Park, via the rose garden at Fontfroide Abbey and the terraces of Saint-André, these gardens served as a veritable wellspring of inspiration for Gustave Fayet. These places fuel his imagination and give rise to unique flowers, with organic patterns and soft colors, straddling the line between botanical reality and artistic reverie.

A Dialogue Between Texts, Artworks, and Archives

As with the first book , *Gustave Fayet in Provence* , the layout is based on a two-column grid designed to ensure a smooth reading experience and highlight the book’s rich collection of illustrations.

Artworks and texts by various authors engage in a dialogue throughout the pages to bring to life the rich and vibrant world of Gustave Fayet. Notes set against a pink background shed light on topics such as the relationship between painting and the garden, still lifes, the Mediterranean dream, imaginary botany, blotting papers, and Fayet’s ceramics.

At the end of the book, a selection of archival documents presented on colored backgrounds adds rhythm to the reading experience and creates visual breaks between chapters. These inserts also shed light on Gustave Fayet’s historical, artistic, and personal context. The reader first encounters a text by André Suarès devoted to Gustave Fayet and his tapestries. The book concludes with the preface to the album *Fleurs*, whose layout creates a dialogue between Fayet’s writings and his ink drawings, presented side by side.