Collection Hollenstein, “L’Or”, André Chante

André Chante (1936–1995) is an illustrator, graphic designer and typographer whose work, either within Studio Hollenstein, or personal, marked the 1960s and 70s. Artistic director at Hollenstein, he is notably responsible for the visual identity of the new Rungis halls, opened in 1969, and the formula for the IBM Informatique magazine. A letter designer, he created – sometimes under the pseudonym Andy Song – emblematic fantaisie typeface of his time, distributed as part of the Hollenstein Collection. Or (“Gold”), a titling typeface designed from 1967, is inspired both by Cassandre’s Bifur, whose kinetic aspect would have been accentuated to the extreme, and Marcel Duchamp’s “flying hearts” implemented in the 1930s and reproduced on the cover of the magazine Cahiers d’Art (nº1-2, 1936) by Duchamp himself. In this regard, the “vibratory optical reaction” specific to “flying hearts”, based on the alternation of two saturated colors, a vermillion and an intense blue, is at the basis of games of applications that André Chante offers for the use of his character. He thus had a superb screen-printed brochure printed where the elementary geometric shapes of gold, enhanced with various tones of red and blue, offer a creation worthy of Op Art. André Chante’s reputation is great abroad, the journal Novum Gebrauchsgraphik, in particular, devoted several articles to him and entrusted him with its cover at least three times from 1968 to 1972, the last two interventions being the occasion for Chante to highlight his typefaces, respectively Or and Indigo.

Document: Archives Signes.