October Salon 56

2016
Cultural Centre of Belgrade
Belgrade

October Salon is an international exhibition of art based in Belgrade. It has taken place annually from 1960 until 2014, becoming biannual with the 56th edition in 2016. October Salon 56: the Pleasure of Love, curated by David Elliott, takes its subject from the opening lines of an 18th century French poem:

Plaisir d’amour ne reste qu’un moment, Le chagrin d’amour dure toute la vie.
(The pleasure of love lasts only a Moment. The grief of love lasts a lifetime.)
— Jean-Pierre Claris de Florian

In 1784 Jean-Paul-Égide Martini composed Plaisir d’Amour, a classic love song based the aforementioned poem by Florian. The hand drawn lettering of Jean-Paul-Égide Martini’s pedagogical work École D’Orgue provided inspiration for a custom drawn serif typeface. The typeface, which included both Roman and Cyrillic characters, provided a unique voice for a visual identity which sought to express the key themes of October Salon 56: vicissitudinous emotions, music, poetry and the passage of time.