Situated at around 3,300 ft above sea level in the mountains of the Swiss Jura region, the town of La Chaux-de-Fonds experienced significant economic development towards the end of the 19th century, which went hand in hand with much building activity. There are few other places in Switzerland in which the influence of art nouveau is so clearly visible. Significantly inspired by the painter and architect Charles L'Eplattenier (1874-1946), and his art and decoration course at the local school of applied arts in 1905, a local variant of art nouveau developed, the so-called Style sapin or "fir style." Protagonists of this movement accorded special importance in their works to the use of symbolic motifs that reflect the nature of the Jura landscape and especially its fir forests. This book offers a comprehensive survey of the Style sapin and builds bridges into the 21st century. It places the "fir style" within the international context of art nouveau and also addresses in detail the local facets of this movement, which has left traces that are still visible today in watchmaking, applied arts, and architecture. Moreover, it draws attention for the first time to the previously scarcely acknowledged female artists of the Style sapin. Text in French.

The Spitz book of hours is one of the finest French books of hours in the collections of the Getty Museum. It is also one of the most original and inventive manuscripts painted in the International style. The Spitz Master, its primary illuminator, allows the narrative of the miniatures to fill the borders, bringing its pages alive in a fresh and engaging manner.
In new art-historical research, Gregory Clark places this manuscript's vivid, even witty, imagery in the turbulent context of Parisian culture around 1420. Clark also examines the book of hours in the context of medieval culture, the book trade in Paris, and the role of Paris as an international center of illumination. The Spitz Master: A Parisian Book of Hours is the first study devoted entirely to the manuscript and reproduces all the book's glowing miniatures in full color. It will serve as a lively introduction to the Spitz Hours for scholars and the general public alike.