To mark the centenary of Gustave Fayet’s birth, a number of exhibitions are taking place across France – in Béziers, Narbonne, Arles, Villeneuve-lez-Avignon and Paris at the Fondation Louis Vuitton (2026). An immersion in the vibrant world of this multi-faceted artist: painter, publisher, bibliophile and great lover of illustrated books. The Musée d’Art Gustave Fayet association is celebrating this richness through a collection of previously unpublished works, the common thread running through this cultural season. It was against this backdrop that we had the pleasure of designing the first book in this series: Gustave Fayet en Provence. This work also resonates with a catalogue designed a few years ago for the city of Béziers: Gustave Fayet, 1865-1925.

A tribute to Fayet’s southern sensibility

This edition has been designed to be a beautiful publishing object, both practical and sensitive. The inside flaps, integrated into the cover, allow the pages to be marked as they are read, while particular care has been taken with the finish, underlining the attention paid to the reader’s experience.

The artistic direction is directly inspired by Fayet’s personal epic and her intimate link with the South of France, her native land. The graphic universe borrows from the light, colours and landscapes of this region of the Occitan coast, so dear to the artist.

The colour palette evokes the sunny contrasts typical of the South: the bright yellows reflect the summer heat and the joy of bright days, while the deep blues echo the sea, the vast sky and a certain form of Mediterranean contemplation. These shades embody Fayet’s attachment to the land, to his roots, but also to a vibrant, sensitive and light-filled southern culture.

Through this editorial format, the project celebrates both the work and the man, creating a visual and emotional bridge between the artist, his inner landscape and his real geography.

A model serving the Provençal story

This exhibition catalogue brings together contributions from six authors with a wide range of backgrounds: a doctorate in languages, a lecturer in art history, a professor of classics, an art historian, etc. All these complementary perspectives enrich the reading of the work and its context.

The layout is based on a two-column grid, designed to provide a fluid and functional reading experience. A narrower column contains the notes and photographic captions, which punctuate the pages while interacting with the iconography. The way the images are presented brings out the full richness and atmosphere of Fayet’s Provençal work.

To mark the transitions between the texts of the various guest authors and structure the reading experience, we have designed dividers with blue backgrounds. These full pages create a real visual breathing space between th