US rock group win vinyl art prize

The debut album by US indie rock group Fleet Foxes has won the Art Vinyl prize for best cover.

The self-titled album features the 1559 painting Netherlandish Proverbs, by Pieter Bruegel the Elder.

A mixture of 50 obscure and well-known vinyl record sleeves from 2008 were shortlisted for the prize, with 3,000 people voting online.

The winning covers will be on display at art galleries in London, Birmingham, Northampton and Norwich.

Londoner Roots Manuva's album Slime and Reason - featuring a classical-style bust of the rapper complete with green slime - was voted second while the cover of Coldplay's Viva La Vida came third.

'Real surprise'

In it, the band reproduce Eugene Delacroix's 1830 painting Liberty Leading the People.

"For the past four years, the Art Vinyl award has very much celebrated the work of new emerging artists and graphic designers," said awards director Andrew Heeps.

"So, this year, it has been a real surprise to see how some past artistic works have proven to be so popular from 2008's record cover designs."

Previous winners of the award include Hard-Fi's Stars of CCTV and Thom Yorke's The Eraser.

This year's winners will be featured in exhibitions at London's Rough Trade East gallery, Snap Galleries in Birmingham, Fishmarket Gallery in Northampton and the Perfect Pad Gallery in Norwich.

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