passion
sachs
A SERIES OF
ENCRYPTED PAINTINGS
BY JEAN-CLAUDE BOSSEL
Current exhibition
painting no. 08
80 x 80 cm
Current exhibition
painting no. 09
80 x 80 cm
Current exhibition
painting no. 10
80 x 80 cm
DOTS AND
ENCRYPTED MESSAGES
Look closely at the four corners of the paintings.
You will see small hollow or filled circles, as well as short diagonal strokes slanting in one of two directions.
A hollow circle represents 0, and a filled circle represents 1.
A diagonal stroke that slopes down to the right represents 0, and one that slopes up to the right represents 1.
Each group of five symbols represents a five-digit binary number.
Read the first two rows from left to right, starting at the top.
The top row gives 11110, and the second row gives 00101.
We can change the rules by treating any circle, whether hollow or filled, as the digit 0, and any stroke, regardless of its orientation, as the digit 1.
This gives us a second binary system.
We can then read the first two rows of symbols using this second convention and convert them into five-digit binary numbers.
Read from left to right, the top row gives 00101.
Read in the same way, the second row gives 01100.
ART &
MATHEMATICS
The handwritten notes below show two aspects of how the paintings were made.
The first set of handwritten notes explores different combinations of background colours, paint splatter colours and arrangements of the layered canvases.
The second shows how the CODE BACH® encryption calculations determine the order in which the symbols representing hidden messages are placed on the canvas.
HIDDEN MESSAGES
ENCRYPTED
IN THE PAINTINGS
Several hidden messages are encrypted in the series of paintings "PASSION SACHS".
These hidden messages were encrypted using the CODE BACH®.
Some of the hidden encrypted messages refer to German-Swiss industrialist Gunter Sachs' love affair with French actress Brigitte Bardot in the late sixties.
Other of these encrypted messages refer to dialogues from the film "Le Mépris” by Jean-Luc Godard, with Brigitte Bardot in the main role.
Iconic Brigitte Bardot
in an Art Gallery of
Chelsea, New York
Private documentary photo
© FGB GALLERY
New York, USA, June 2023
THE TWELVE PAINTINGS
IN THE SERIES
PASSION SACHS
The PASSION SACHS series comprises twelve square paintings, each measuring 80 × 80 cm.
Mixed media: acrylic, 33 rpm vinyl record and scrap metal from Sachs engines.
A small square canvas glued onto a medium square canvas, itself glued on a main canvas.
Painted in 2023.
DIGITAL
SETTINGS
A 2023–2024 partnership
with a Swiss industrialist
and collector
In 2023 and 2024, we held an exhibition in our showroom in Préverenges in partnership with an industrialist and avid collector of Sachs engines from the 1960s.
All twelve paintings in the PASSION SACHS series were displayed alongside 60 collectible Sachs mopeds and 30 original Sachs engines from that decade.
SCRAP METAL
FROM SACHS
ENGINES
At the centre of each of the twelve paintings in the PASSION SACHS series are pieces of scrap metal from Sachs engines made in the 1960s.
The engines also provide a link to Gunter Sachs, the grandson of Ernst Sachs, who co-founded Fichtel & Sachs in 1895.
Gunter became known for his playboy lifestyle and numerous romances.
Of all his relationships, his marriage to Brigitte Bardot drew the most media attention.
SIXTIES
FANTASIES
PASSION SACHS is closely linked to two other series, WEDDING IN LAS VEGAS and INITIALS BB, both represented in our current exhibition.
The three series explore different moments in the relationships between actress Brigitte Bardot, her husband Gunter Sachs and her lover Serge Gainsbourg.
SPRING 1966
Gunter Sachs declares his love for Brigitte Bardot by having roses dropped from a helicopter over her home in Saint-Tropez (inspiration for the PASSION SACHS series).
14 JULY 1966
Bardot and Sachs marry in Las Vegas (inspiration for the WEDDING IN LAS VEGAS series).
1967–1968
Brigitte Bardot and Serge Gainsbourg become lovers.
He writes “Je t’aime… moi non plus” (I love you… me neither) for her, and they record it together.
With Sachs opposed to its release, Bardot asks Gainsbourg to shelve the release.
After their affair ends, Gainsbourg writes “Initials B.B.”, which is released in 1968 (inspiration for the INITIALS BB series).
A FOURTH SERIES
FEATURING A FOURTH
ICONIC FIGURE
The love stories explored in the three series above continue in HIT PARADE SIXTIES, a fourth series of twelve paintings.
The encrypted messages in this series turn to another figure from the late 1960s, the actress Jane Birkin.
She became Serge Gainsbourg’s partner shortly after his break-up with Brigitte Bardot.
Together, they became one of the most recognisable couples of the years that followed.
It was Birkin’s duet with Gainsbourg, released in 1969, that made “Je t’aime… moi non plus” famous.
The version he had recorded with Bardot was still unreleased at the time.
Click the photograph below to discover this fourth series.
Portraits of Jane Birkin and Serge Gainsbourg
in an Art Basel booth in Basel
Private documentary photo
© FGB GALLERY
Basel, Switzerland, June 2025