Fernand Léger
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Joseph Fernand Henri Léger (; February 4, 1881 – August 17, 1955) was a French
painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...
,
sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...
, and
filmmaker Filmmaking (film production) is the process by which a motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, starting with an initial story, idea, or commission. It then continues through screenwriting, castin ...
. In his early works he created a personal form of
cubism Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement that revolutionized European painting and sculpture, and inspired related movements in music, literature and architecture. In Cubist artwork, objects are analyzed, broken up and reassemble ...
(known as "
tubism Tubism is a term coined by the art critic Louis Vauxcelles in 1911 to describe the style of French artist Fernand Léger. Meant as derision, the term was inspired by Léger's idiosyncratic version of Cubism, in which he emphasized cylindrical ...
") which he gradually modified into a more figurative,
populist Populism refers to a range of political stances that emphasize the idea of "the people" and often juxtapose this group against " the elite". It is frequently associated with anti-establishment and anti-political sentiment. The term developed ...
style. His boldly simplified treatment of modern subject matter has caused him to be regarded as a forerunner of pop art.


Biography

Léger was born in
Argentan Argentan () is a commune and the seat of two cantons and of an arrondissement in the Orne department in northwestern France. Argentan is located NE of Rennes, ENE of the Mont Saint-Michel, SE of Cherbourg, SSE of Caen, SW of Rouen and N ...
,
Orne Orne (; nrf, Ôrne or ) is a département in the northwest of France, named after the river Orne. It had a population of 279,942 in 2019.Lower Normandy Lower Normandy (french: Basse-Normandie, ; nrf, Basse-Normaundie) is a former administrative region of France. On 1 January 2016, Lower and Upper Normandy merged becoming one region called Normandy. Geography The region included three departme ...
, where his father raised cattle. Fernand Léger initially trained as an architect from 1897 to 1899, before moving in 1900 to Paris, where he supported himself as an architectural draftsman. After military service in
Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 1995 has been managed, u ...
,
Yvelines Yvelines () is a department in the western part of the Île-de-France region in Northern France. In 2019, it had a population of 1,448,207.École des Beaux-Arts École des Beaux-Arts (; ) refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The term is associated with the Beaux-Arts style in architecture and city planning that thrived in France and other countries during the late nineteenth century ...
was rejected. He nevertheless attended the Beaux-Arts as a non-enrolled student, spending what he described as "three empty and useless years" studying with Gérôme and others, while also studying at the
Académie Julian The Académie Julian () was a private art school for painting and sculpture founded in Paris, France, in 1867 by French painter and teacher Rodolphe Julian (1839–1907) that was active from 1868 through 1968. It remained famous for the number a ...
. He began to work seriously as a painter only at the age of 25. At this point his work showed the influence of
impressionism Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating ...
, as seen in ''Le Jardin de ma mère'' (My Mother's Garden) of 1905, one of the few paintings from this period that he did not later destroy. A new emphasis on drawing and geometry appeared in Léger's work after he saw the Cézanne retrospective at the
Salon d'Automne The Salon d'Automne (; en, Autumn Salon), or Société du Salon d'automne, is an art exhibition held annually in Paris, France. Since 2011, it is held on the Champs-Élysées, between the Grand Palais and the Petit Palais, in mid-October. The ...
in 1907.


1909–1914

In 1909 he moved to
Montparnasse Montparnasse () is an area in the south of Paris, France, on the left bank of the river Seine, centred at the crossroads of the Boulevard du Montparnasse and the Rue de Rennes, between the Rue de Rennes and boulevard Raspail. Montparnasse has bee ...
and met
Alexander Archipenko Alexander Porfyrovych Archipenko (also referred to as Olexandr, Oleksandr, or Aleksandr; uk, Олександр Порфирович Архипенко, Romanized: Olexandr Porfyrovych Arkhypenko; February 25, 1964) was a Ukrainian and American ...
,
Jacques Lipchitz Jacques Lipchitz (26 May 1973) was a Cubist sculptor. Lipchitz retained highly figurative and legible components in his work leading up to 1915–16, after which naturalist and descriptive elements were muted, dominated by a synthetic style of Cr ...
,
Marc Chagall Marc Chagall; russian: link=no, Марк Заха́рович Шага́л ; be, Марк Захаравіч Шагал . (born Moishe Shagal; 28 March 1985) was a Russian-French artist. An early modernism, modernist, he was associated with se ...
,
Joseph Csaky Joseph Csaky (also written Josef Csàky, Csáky József, József Csáky and Joseph Alexandre Czaky) (18 March 1888 – 1 May 1971) was a Hungarian avant-garde artist, sculptor, and graphic artist, best known for his early participation in the ...
and
Robert Delaunay Robert Delaunay (12 April 1885 – 25 October 1941) was a French artist who, with his wife Sonia Delaunay and others, co-founded the Orphism art movement, noted for its use of strong colours and geometric shapes. His later works were more abstra ...
. In 1910 he exhibited at the
Salon d'Automne The Salon d'Automne (; en, Autumn Salon), or Société du Salon d'automne, is an art exhibition held annually in Paris, France. Since 2011, it is held on the Champs-Élysées, between the Grand Palais and the Petit Palais, in mid-October. The ...
in the same room (salle VIII) as
Jean Metzinger Jean Dominique Antony Metzinger (; 24 June 1883 – 3 November 1956) was a major 20th-century French painter, theorist, writer, critic and poet, who along with Albert Gleizes wrote the first theoretical work on Cubism. His earliest works, from 1 ...
and
Henri Le Fauconnier Henri Victor Gabriel Le Fauconnier (July 5, 1881 – December 25, 1946) was a French Cubist painter born in Hesdin. Le Fauconnier was seen as one of the leading figures among the Montparnasse Cubists. At the 1911 Salon des Indépendants Le Fauco ...
. In his major painting of this period, ''Nudes in the Forest'', Léger displays a personal form of
Cubism Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement that revolutionized European painting and sculpture, and inspired related movements in music, literature and architecture. In Cubist artwork, objects are analyzed, broken up and reassemble ...
that his critics termed "
Tubism Tubism is a term coined by the art critic Louis Vauxcelles in 1911 to describe the style of French artist Fernand Léger. Meant as derision, the term was inspired by Léger's idiosyncratic version of Cubism, in which he emphasized cylindrical ...
" for its emphasis on cylindrical forms.Néret 1993, p. 242. In 1911 the hanging committee of the
Salon des Indépendants Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon, a venue for cosmetic treatments * French term for a drawing room, an architectural space in a home * Salon (gathering), a meeting for learning or enjoyment Arts and entertainment * Salon (P ...
placed together the painters identified as 'Cubists'. Metzinger,
Albert Gleizes Albert Gleizes (; 8 December 1881 – 23 June 1953) was a French artist, theoretician, philosopher, a self-proclaimed founder of Cubism and an influence on the School of Paris. Albert Gleizes and Jean Metzinger wrote the first major treatise on ...
, Le Fauconnier, Delaunay and Léger were responsible for revealing Cubism to the general public for the first time as an organized group. The following year he again exhibited at the Salon d'Automne and Indépendants with the Cubists, and joined with several artists, including Le Fauconnier, Metzinger, Gleizes,
Francis Picabia Francis Picabia (: born Francis-Marie Martinez de Picabia; 22January 1879 – 30November 1953) was a French avant-garde painter, poet and typographist. After experimenting with Impressionism and Pointillism, Picabia became associated with Cubism ...
and the Duchamp brothers,
Jacques Villon Jacques Villon (July 31, 1875 – June 9, 1963), also known as Gaston Duchamp, was a French Cubist and abstract painter and printmaker. Early life Born Émile Méry Frédéric Gaston Duchamp in Damville, Eure, in Normandy, France, he came ...
,
Raymond Duchamp-Villon Raymond Duchamp-Villon (5 November 1876 – 9 October 1918) was a French sculptor. Life and art Duchamp-Villon was born Pierre-Maurice-Raymond Duchamp in Damville, Eure, in the Normandy region of France, the second son of Eugène and Lucie Duch ...
and
Marcel Duchamp Henri-Robert-Marcel Duchamp (, , ; 28 July 1887 – 2 October 1968) was a French painter, sculptor, chess player, and writer whose work is associated with Cubism, Dada, and conceptual art. Duchamp is commonly regarded, along with Pablo Picasso ...
to form the
Puteaux Group The Section d'Or ("Golden Section"), also known as Groupe de Puteaux or Puteaux Group, was a collective of Painting, painters, sculptors, poets and critics associated with Cubism and Orphism (art), Orphism. Based in the Parisian suburbs, the grou ...
—also called the ''
Section d'Or The Section d'Or ("Golden Section"), also known as Groupe de Puteaux or Puteaux Group, was a collective of Painting, painters, sculptors, poets and critics associated with Cubism and Orphism (art), Orphism. Based in the Parisian suburbs, the grou ...
'' (The Golden Section). Léger's paintings, from then until 1914, became increasingly abstract. Their tubular, conical, and cubed forms are laconically rendered in rough patches of
primary colors A set of primary colors or primary colours (see spelling differences) consists of colorants or colored lights that can be mixed in varying amounts to produce a gamut of colors. This is the essential method used to create the perception of a bro ...
plus green, black and white, as seen in the series of paintings with the title ''Contrasting Forms''. Léger made no use of the
collage Collage (, from the french: coller, "to glue" or "to stick together";) is a technique of art creation, primarily used in the visual arts, but in music too, by which art results from an assemblage of different forms, thus creating a new whole. ...
technique pioneered by
Braque Georges Braque ( , ; 13 May 1882 – 31 August 1963) was a major 20th-century List of French artists, French painter, Collage, collagist, Drawing, draughtsman, printmaker and sculpture, sculptor. His most notable contributions were in his all ...
and
Picasso Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and Scenic design, theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th ce ...
.


1914–1920

Léger's experiences in World War I had a significant effect on his work. Mobilized in August 1914 for service in the
French Army The French Army, officially known as the Land Army (french: Armée de Terre, ), is the land-based and largest component of the French Armed Forces. It is responsible to the Government of France, along with the other components of the Armed For ...
, he spent two years at the front in Argonne. He produced many sketches of artillery pieces, airplanes, and fellow soldiers while in the trenches, and painted ''Soldier with a Pipe'' (1916) while on furlough. In September 1916 he almost died after a
mustard gas Mustard gas or sulfur mustard is a chemical compound belonging to a family of cytotoxic and blister agents known as mustard agents. The name ''mustard gas'' is technically incorrect: the substance, when dispersed, is often not actually a gas, b ...
attack by the
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...
troops at
Verdun Verdun (, , , ; official name before 1970 ''Verdun-sur-Meuse'') is a large city in the Meuse department in Grand Est, northeastern France. It is an arrondissement of the department. Verdun is the biggest city in Meuse, although the capital ...
. During a period of convalescence in Villepinte he painted ''The Card Players'' (1917), a canvas whose robot-like, monstrous figures reflect his experience of the war. As he explained:
...I was stunned by the sight of the breech of a 75 millimeter in the sunlight. It was the magic of light on the white metal. That's all it took for me to forget the abstract art of 1912–1913. The crudeness, variety, humor, and downright perfection of certain men around me, their precise sense of utilitarian reality and its application in the midst of the life-and-death drama we were in ... made me want to paint in slang with all its color and mobility.
This work marked the beginning of his "mechanical period", during which the figures and objects he painted were characterized by sleekly rendered tubular and machine-like forms. Starting in 1918, he also produced the first paintings in the ''Disk'' series, in which disks suggestive of traffic lights figure prominently. In December 1919 he married Jeanne-Augustine Lohy, and in 1920 he met
Le Corbusier Charles-Édouard Jeanneret (6 October 188727 August 1965), known as Le Corbusier ( , , ), was a Swiss-French architect, designer, painter, urban planner, writer, and one of the pioneers of what is now regarded as modern architecture. He was ...
, who would remain a lifelong friend.


1920s

The "mechanical" works Léger painted in the 1920s, in their formal clarity as well as in their subject matter—the mother and child, the female nude, figures in an ordered landscape—are typical of the postwar "
return to order The return to order ( French: ''retour à l'ordre'') was a European art movement that followed the First World War, rejecting the extreme avant-garde art of the years up to 1918 and taking its inspiration from classical art instead. The movement ...
" in the arts, and link him to the tradition of French figurative painting represented by
Poussin Nicolas Poussin (, , ; June 1594 – 19 November 1665) was the leading painter of the classical French Baroque style, although he spent most of his working life in Rome. Most of his works were on religious and mythological subjects painted for a ...
and
Corot CoRoT (French: ; English: Convection, Rotation and planetary Transits) was a space telescope mission which operated from 2006 to 2013. The mission's two objectives were to search for extrasolar planets with short orbital periods, particularly th ...
. In his ''paysages animés'' (animated landscapes) of 1921, figures and animals exist harmoniously in landscapes made up of streamlined forms. The frontal compositions, firm contours, and smoothly blended colors of these paintings frequently recall the works of
Henri Rousseau Henri Julien Félix Rousseau (; 21 May 1844 – 2 September 1910)
at the Amédée Ozenfant Amédée Ozenfant (15 April 1886 – 4 May 1966) was a French cubist painter and writer. Together with Charles-Edouard Jeanneret (later known as Le Corbusier) he founded the Purist movement. Education Ozenfant was born into a bourgeois f ...
who together had founded
Purism Purism, referring to the arts, was a movement that took place between 1918 and 1925 that influenced French painting and architecture. Purism was led by Amédée Ozenfant and Charles Edouard Jeanneret (Le Corbusier). Ozenfant and Le Corbusier fo ...
, a style intended as a rational, mathematically based corrective to the impulsiveness of cubism. Combining the classical with the modern, Léger's ''Nude on a Red Background'' (1927) depicts a monumental, expressionless woman, machinelike in form and color. His still life compositions from this period are dominated by stable, interlocking rectangular formations in vertical and horizontal orientation. ''The Siphon'' of 1924, a still life based on an advertisement in the popular press for the aperitif Campari, represents the high-water mark of the Purist aesthetic in Léger's work. Its balanced composition and fluted shapes suggestive of classical columns are brought together with a quasi-cinematic
close-up A close-up or closeup in filmmaking, television production, still photography, and the comic strip medium is a type of shot that tightly frames a person or object. Close-ups are one of the standard shots used regularly with medium and long s ...
of a hand holding a bottle. As an enthusiast of the modern, Léger was greatly attracted to cinema, and for a time he considered giving up painting for filmmaking. In 1923–24 he designed the set for the laboratory scene in Marcel L'Herbier's ''
L'Inhumaine ''L'Inhumaine'' ("the inhuman woman") is a 1924 French science fiction drama film directed by Marcel L'Herbier. It has the subtitle ''histoire féerique'' ("fairy story", "story of enchantment"). ''L'Inhumaine'' is notable for its experimental t ...
'' (The Inhuman One). In 1924, in collaboration with
Dudley Murphy Dudley Bowles Murphy (July 10, 1897 – February 22, 1968) was an American film director. Early life Murphy was born on July 10, 1897 in Winchester, Massachusetts, to the artists Caroline Hutchinson (Bowles) Murphy (1868-1923) and Hermann D ...
,
George Antheil George Johann Carl Antheil (; July 8, 1900 – February 12, 1959) was an American avant-garde composer, pianist, author, and inventor whose modernist musical compositions explored the modern sounds – musical, industrial, and mechanical – of t ...
, and
Man Ray Man Ray (born Emmanuel Radnitzky; August 27, 1890 – November 18, 1976) was an American visual artist who spent most of his career in Paris. He was a significant contributor to the Dada and Surrealism, Surrealist movements, although his t ...
, Léger produced and directed the iconic and
Futurism Futurism ( it, Futurismo, link=no) was an artistic and social movement that originated in Italy, and to a lesser extent in other countries, in the early 20th century. It emphasized dynamism, speed, technology, youth, violence, and objects such ...
-influenced film ''
Ballet Mécanique ''Ballet Mécanique'' (1923–24) is a Dadaist post-Cubist art film conceived, written, and co-directed by the artist Fernand Léger in collaboration with the filmmaker Dudley Murphy (with cinematographic input from Man Ray).Chilvers, Ian & Glav ...
'' (Mechanical Ballet). Neither abstract nor narrative, it is a series of images of a woman's lips and teeth, close-up shots of ordinary objects, and repeated images of human activities and machines in rhythmic movement. In collaboration with Amédée Ozenfant he established the
Académie Moderne The Académie Moderne was a free art school in Paris. It was founded by Fernand Léger and Amédée Ozenfant in 1924. The school attracted students from Europe and America. Both Léger and Ozenfant taught there, along with Aleksandra Ekster and M ...
, a free school where he taught from 1924, with
Alexandra Exter Alexandra () is the feminine form of the given name Alexander (, ). Etymologically, the name is a compound of the Greek verb (; meaning 'to defend') and (; GEN , ; meaning 'man'). Thus it may be roughly translated as "defender of man" or "prot ...
and
Marie Laurencin Marie Laurencin (31 October 1883 – 8 June 1956) was a French painter and printmaker. She became an important figure in the Parisian Avant-garde#:~:text=The avant-garde (/ˌ,art, culture, or society., avant-garde as a member of the Cubism, Cubist ...
. He produced the first of his "mural paintings", influenced by Le Corbusier's theories, in 1925. Intended to be incorporated into polychrome architecture, they are among his most abstract paintings, featuring flat areas of color that appear to advance or recede.


1930s

Starting in 1927, the character of Léger's work gradually changed as organic and irregular forms assumed greater importance. The figural style that emerged in the 1930s is fully displayed in the ''Two Sisters'' of 1935, and in several versions of ''Adam and Eve''. With characteristic humor, he portrayed Adam in a striped bathing suit, or sporting a tattoo. In 1931, Léger made his first visit to the United States, where he traveled to New York City and Chicago. In 1935, the
Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...
in New York presented an exhibition of his work. In 1938, Léger was commissioned to decorate
Nelson Rockefeller Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller (July 8, 1908 – January 26, 1979), sometimes referred to by his nickname Rocky, was an American businessman and politician who served as the 41st vice president of the United States from 1974 to 1977. A member of t ...
's apartment.


1940s

During World War II Léger lived in the United States. He taught at
Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...
, and found inspiration for a new series of paintings in the novel sight of industrial refuse in the landscape. The shock of juxtaposed natural forms and mechanical elements, the "tons of abandoned machines with flowers cropping up from within, and birds perching on top of them" exemplified what he called the "law of contrast". His enthusiasm for such contrasts resulted in such works as ''The Tree in the Ladder'' of 1943–44, and ''Romantic Landscape'' of 1946. Reprising a composition of 1930, he painted ''Three Musicians'' (Museum of Modern Art, New York) in 1944. Reminiscent of Rousseau in its folk-like character, the painting exploits the law of contrasts in its juxtaposition of the three men and their instruments. During his American sojourn, Léger began making paintings in which freely arranged bands of color are juxtaposed with figures and objects outlined in black. Léger credited the neon lights of New York City as the source of this innovation: "I was struck by the neon advertisements flashing all over Broadway. You are there, you talk to someone, and all of a sudden he turns blue. Then the color fades—another one comes and turns him red or yellow." Upon his return to France in 1945, he joined the
Communist Party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. A ...
. During this period his work became less abstract, and he produced many monumental figure compositions depicting scenes of popular life featuring acrobats, builders, divers, and country outings. Art historian Charlotta Kotik has written that Léger's "determination to depict the common man, as well as to create for him, was a result of socialist theories widespread among the avant-garde both before and after World War II. However, Léger's social conscience was not that of a fierce Marxist, but of a passionate humanist". His varied projects included book illustrations, murals, stained-glass windows, mosaics, polychrome ceramic sculptures, and set and costume designs.


1950s

After the death of Leger's wife Jeanne-Augustine Lohy in 1950, Léger married Nadia Khodossevitch in 1952. In his final years he lectured in
Bern german: Berner(in)french: Bernois(e) it, bernese , neighboring_municipalities = Bremgarten bei Bern, Frauenkappelen, Ittigen, Kirchlindach, Köniz, Mühleberg, Muri bei Bern, Neuenegg, Ostermundigen, Wohlen bei Bern, Zollikofen , website ...
, designed mosaics and stained-glass windows for the
Central University of Venezuela The Central University of Venezuela (Spanish: ''Universidad Central de Venezuela''; UCV) is a public university of Venezuela located in Caracas. It is widely held to be the highest ranking institution in the country, and it also ranks 18th in L ...
in
Caracas Caracas (, ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas, abbreviated as CCS, is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the ...
,
Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...
, and painted ''Country Outing'', ''The Camper'', and the series ''The Big Parade''. In 1954 he began a project for a mosaic for the
São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaWC a ...
Opera, which he would not live to finish. Fernand Léger died at his home in 1955 and is buried in
Gif-sur-Yvette Gif-sur-Yvette (, literally ''Gif on Yvette'') is a commune in south-western Ile de France, France. It is located from the center of Paris. Geography The town is crossed by and named after the river Yvette. The total area is and is green sp ...
,
Essonne Essonne () is a department of France in the southern Île-de-France region. It is named after the river Essonne. In 2019, it had a population of 1,301,659 across 194 communes.Pop Art. He was active as a teacher for many years, first at the
Académie Vassilieff Mariya Ivanovna Vassiliéva (Russian: Мария Ивановна Васильева), (12 February 1884 – 14 May 1957), better known as Marie Vassilieff, was a Russian-born painter active in Paris. She moved to Paris at the age of twenty- ...
in Paris, then in 1931 at the
Sorbonne Sorbonne may refer to: * Sorbonne (building), historic building in Paris, which housed the University of Paris and is now shared among multiple universities. *the University of Paris (c. 1150 – 1970) *one of its components or linked institution, ...
, and then developing his own '' Académie Fernand Léger'', which was in Paris, then at the
Yale School of Art and Architecture The Yale School of Art is the art school of Yale University. Founded in 1869 as the first professional fine arts school in the United States, it grants Masters of Fine Arts degrees to students completing a two-year course in graphic design, painti ...
(1938–1939),
Mills College Art Gallery Mills College Art Museum is a museum and art gallery in Oakland, California. The originally all-girls' school Mills College was founded by Susan Mills, Susan and Cyrus Mills, who were both interested in art and history. Susan's sister Jane Tolman ...
in Oakland, California during 1940–1945, before he returned to France.Pupils Fernand Léger in the
RKD The Netherlands Institute for Art History or RKD (Dutch: RKD-Nederlands Instituut voor Kunstgeschiedenis), previously Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie (RKD), is located in The Hague and is home to the largest art history center i ...
Among his many pupils were
Nadir Afonso Nadir Afonso, Order of St. James of the Sword, GOSE (4 December 1920 – 11 December 2013) was a Portuguese Geometric abstract art, geometric abstractionist painter. Formally trained in architecture, which he practiced early in his career with L ...
,
Paul Georges Paul Gordon Georges (June 15, 1923 – April 16, 2002) was an American painter. He painted large-scale figurative allegories and numerous self-portraits. In January 1966, the cover of ''Art News'' featured Georges' painting ''In The Studio'' ...
, Charlotte Gilbertson,
Hananiah Harari Hananiah Harari (August 29, 1912 – July 19, 2000) was an American painter and illustrator. Life Harari was born Richard (Dick) Falk Goldman, in Rochester, New York. He studied at the Syracuse University School of Fine Arts. He went to Paris i ...
,
Asger Jorn Asger Oluf Jorn (3 March 1914 – 1 May 1973) was a Danish painter, sculptor, ceramic artist, and author. He was a founding member of the avant-garde movement COBRA and the Situationist International. He was born in Vejrum, in the northwest c ...
,
Michael Loew Michael Loew (May 8, 1907 — November 14, 1985) was an American Abstract Expressionist artist who was born in New York City. Career In the late 1920s, Loew studied at the Art Students League with the Ashcan School and was a recipient of a Sadi ...
,
Beverly Pepper Beverly Pepper (née Stoll; December 20, 1922 – February 5, 2020) was an American sculptor known for her monumental works, site specific and land art. She remained independent from any particular art movement. She lived in Italy, primarily in ...
,
Victor Reinganum Victor Reinganum (1907–1995) was a British artist and illustrator, probably best known for his illustrations on book dustjackets, including the first editions of Muriel Spark's ''The Ballad of Peckham Rye'' (1960) and ''The Prime of Miss Jean Bro ...
,
Marcel Mouly Marcel Mouly (February 6, 1918 – January 7, 2008) was a French artist who painted in an abstract style. Early life Mouly was born in Paris, France, on February 6, 1918. His interest in art developed in grade school. Mouly was first sent ...
,
René Margotton René Margotton (1915-2009) was a French painter of the School of Paris, one of the last cubists of the 20th century. He was born in Roanne, France, in 1915, and died in 2009. He is also the father of Bernard Romain Biography He studied at the ...
,
Saloua Raouda Choucair Saloua Raouda Choucair ( ar, سلوى روضة شقير; June 24, 1916 – January 26, 2017) was a Lebanon, Lebanese painting, painter and sculpture, sculptor. Life and career Born in 1916 in Ain el Mreisa, Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon, Choucair came ...
and
Charlotte Wankel Charlotte Wankel (12 May 1888 – 2 August 1969) was a Norwegian painter regarded as one of the first Norwegian cubist and painters of abstract art. Biography Wankel was raised by wealthy parents at the Kambo estate outside Moss, in Østfold co ...
,
Peter Agostini Peter Agostini (February 13, 1913 Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan – March 27, 1993) was an American sculptor. Life Agostini studied at the Leonardo da Vinci Art School in 1935 and 1936. He taught sculpture and painting at the New York Studio School, ...
,
Lou Albert-Lasard Lou Albert-Lasard (1885 in Metz – July 1969 in Paris) was an Expressionist painter. She was born in 1885 in Metz (then part of Germany) to a Jewish banking family. From 1908 until 1914, she studied art in Munich, where she and her sister, ...
,
Tarsila do Amaral Tarsila de Aguiar do Amaral (; 1 September 1886 – 17 January 1973) was a Brazilian painter, draftswoman, and translator. She is considered one of the leading Latin American modernist artists, and is regarded as the painter who best achieved Bra ...
,
Arie Aroch Arie Aroch (in Hebrew אריה ארוך; born 1908, in Russia – October 15, 1974, in Israel) was an Israeli painter and diplomat born in Kharkiv, which was part of the Russian Empire. Aroch's work was a mixture of Pop Art and abstract art, alo ...
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Alma del Banco Alma Aline Henriette del Banco (1862-1943) was a German modernist painter of Jewish ancestry. Life and work She came from an assimilated Jewish family. Her father, Eduard Moses del Banco (1810–1881), ran a business selling tobacco products, ...
, Christian Berg,
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Marcelle Cahn Marcelle Cahn (March 1, 1895 - September 20, 1981) was a French painter and one of the members of Abstraction-Création. She was born in a Jewish family of Strasbourg, AlsaceNorman Carton Norman Carton (January 7, 1908 – February 14, 1980) was an American artist and educator known for abstract expressionist art. He was born in the Ukraine region of Imperial Russia and moved to the United States in 1922 where he spent most of h ...
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Otto Gustaf Carlsund Otto Gustaf Carlsund (11 December 1897 – 25 July 1948) was a Swedish avant-garde artist and art critic, connected to Cubism, Purism, Neo-Plasticism, and Concrete art. Biography In 1924 he moved to Paris to study under Fernand Léger and Amédée ...
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Saloua Raouda Choucair Saloua Raouda Choucair ( ar, سلوى روضة شقير; June 24, 1916 – January 26, 2017) was a Lebanon, Lebanese painting, painter and sculpture, sculptor. Life and career Born in 1916 in Ain el Mreisa, Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon, Choucair came ...
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Robert Colescott Robert H. Colescott (August 26, 1925 – June 4, 2009) was an American Painting, painter. He is known for Satire, satirical genre and crowd subjects, often conveying his exuberant, comical, or bitter reflections on being African American. He stud ...
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Sam Francis Samuel Lewis Francis (June 25, 1923 – November 4, 1994) was an American painter and printmaker. Early life Sam Francis was born in San Mateo, California,
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Serge Gainsbourg Serge Gainsbourg (; born Lucien Ginsburg; 2 April 1928 – 2 March 1991) was a French musician, singer-songwriter, actor, author and filmmaker. Regarded as one of the most important figures in French pop, he was renowned for often provoca ...
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Florence Henri Florence Henri (28 June 1893 – 24 July 1982) was a surrealist artist; primarily focusing her practice on photography and painting, in addition to pianist composition. In her childhood, she traveled throughout Europe, spending portions of her you ...
, William Klein, Maryan,
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Marlow Moss Marjorie Jewel "Marlow" Moss (29 May 1889 – 23 August 1958) was a British Constructivist artist who worked in painting and sculpture. Biography Moss was born on 29 May 1889 in Kilburn in London. She was the daughter of Lionel and Fannie Moss ...
,
Aurélie Nemours Aurélie Nemours (29 October 1910 – 27 January 2005) was a French Painting, painter who made geometric abstraction, abstract geometrical paintings and was highly influenced by De Stijl, or neoplasticism. Biography Aurélie Nemours was born ...
, Gerhard Neumann,
Jules Olitski Jevel Demikovski (March 27, 1922 – February 4, 2007), known professionally as Jules Olitski, was an American painter, printmaker, and sculptor. Early life Olitski was born Jevel Demikovsky in Snovsk, in Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic ( ...
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Erik Olson Erik Artur Olson (Ohlson, Olsson) (Halmstad 9 May 1901 – 1986) was a Swedish painter, illustrator, graphic artist, sculptor, theater decorator, and member of Halmstadgruppen. He was the brother of artist Axel Olson, and in 1929 married ...
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Richard Stankiewicz Richard Stankiewicz (1922–1983) was an American sculptor, known for his work in scrap metal. Stankiewicz was born in Philadelphia, but spent his formative years in Detroit. He began painting and sculpting while in the United States Navy, in ...
and Stasys Usinskas. In 1952, a pair of Léger murals was installed in the General Assembly Hall of the
United Nations headquarters The United Nations is headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, United States, and the complex has served as the official headquarters of the United Nations since its completion in 1951. It is in the Turtle Bay, Manhattan, Turtle Bay neig ...
in New York City. In 1960, the Fernand Léger Museum was opened in
Biot, Alpes-Maritimes Biot (; oc, Biòt) is a small fortified medieval hilltop village in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur near Antibes, between Nice and Cannes. Many people come to Biot for its renowned cubist art museum of Fernand Leger as well as the winding co ...
, France. Léger bequeathed his residence (at 108 Avenue du General Leclerc, Gif sur Yvette, Paris) to the
French Communist Party The French Communist Party (french: Parti communiste français, ''PCF'' ; ) is a political party in France which advocates the principles of communism. The PCF is a member of the Party of the European Left, and its MEPs sit in the European Unit ...
, which later hosted negotiations of the
Paris Peace Accords The Paris Peace Accords, () officially titled the Agreement on Ending the War and Restoring Peace in Viet Nam (''Hiệp định về chấm dứt chiến tranh, lập lại hòa bình ở Việt Nam''), was a peace treaty signed on January 27, 1 ...
between the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
,
Democratic Republic of Vietnam North Vietnam, officially the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV; vi, Việt Nam Dân chủ Cộng hòa), was a socialist state supported by the Soviet Union (USSR) and the People's Republic of China (PRC) in Southeast Asia that existed f ...
,
Republic of Vietnam South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam ( vi, Việt Nam Cộng hòa), was a state in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975, the period when the southern portion of Vietnam was a member of the Western Bloc during part of th ...
and the
Republic of South Vietnam The Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam (PRG, vi, Chính phủ Cách mạng Lâm thời Cộng hòa Miền Nam Việt Nam), was formed on June 8, 1969, by North Vietnam as a purportedly independent shadow gover ...
In May 2008, his painting ''Étude pour la femme en bleu'' (1912–13) sold for $39,241,000 (
hammer price In auctions, the buyer's premium is a charge in addition to the hammer price (i.e. the winning bid announced) of an auction item, or lot. The winning bidder is required to pay both the hammer price and the percentage of that price called for by the ...
with
buyer's premium In auctions, the buyer's premium is a charge in addition to the hammer price (i.e. the winning bid announced) of an auction item, or lot. The winning bidder is required to pay both the hammer price and the percentage of that price called for by the ...
)
United States dollar The United States dollar ( symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the officia ...
s. In August 2008, one of Léger's paintings owned by
Wellesley College Wellesley College is a private women's liberal arts college in Wellesley, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1870 by Henry and Pauline Durant as a female seminary, it is a member of the original Seven Sisters Colleges, an unofficial g ...
's
Davis Museum and Cultural Center The Davis Museum in Wellesley, Massachusetts is located on the Wellesley College campus. The college art collection was first displayed in the Farnsworth Art Building, founded in 1889. The museum in its present form opened in 1993 in a building ...
, ''Mother and Child'', was reported missing. It is believed to have disappeared some time between April 9, 2007 and November 19, 2007. A $100,000 reward is being offered for information that leads to the safe return of the painting. Léger's work was featured in the exhibition "Léger: Modern Art and the Metropolis" from October 14, 2013, through January 5, 2014, at the
Philadelphia Museum of Art The Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMoA) is an art museum originally chartered in 1876 for the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. The main museum building was completed in 1928 on Fairmount, a hill located at the northwest end of the Benjamin Fr ...
. In 2022, it was announced that a lost painting of the rooftop series was discovered on the opposite side of the painting ''Bastille Day''.


Gallery

File:Fernand Léger, 1910-11, Le compotier (Table and Fruit), oil on canvas, 82.2 x 97.8 cm, Minneapolis Institute of Arts.jpg, ''Le compotier'' (''Table and Fruit''), 1910–11, oil on canvas, 82.2 × 97.8 cm,
Minneapolis Institute of Arts The Minneapolis Institute of Art (Mia) is an arts museum located in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. Home to more than 90,000 works of art representing 5,000 years of world history, Mia is one of the largest art museums in the United State ...
. Reproduced in ''
Du "Cubisme" ''Du "Cubisme"'', also written ''Du Cubisme'', or ''Du « Cubisme »'' (and in English, ''On Cubism'' or ''Cubism''), is a book written in 1912 by Albert Gleizes and Jean Metzinger. This was the first major text on Cubism, predating ''The Cubist P ...
'', 1912 File:Fernand Léger, 1911, Étude pour trois portraits (Study for Three Portraits), oil on canvas, 194.9 × 116.5 cm, Milwaukee Art Museum.jpg, ''Étude pour trois portraits (Study for Three Portraits)'', 1911, oil on canvas, 194.9 × 116.5 cm,
Milwaukee Art Museum The Milwaukee Art Museum (MAM) is an art museum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Its collection contains nearly 25,000 works of art. Location and Visit Located on the lakefront of Lake Michigan, the Milwaukee Art Museum is one of the largest art museu ...
File:Fernand Léger, 1911, Roofs in Paris, oil on canvas, private collection.jpg, ''Les Toits de Paris (Roofs in Paris'', 1911, oil on canvas, private collection. Reproduced in ''
Du "Cubisme" ''Du "Cubisme"'', also written ''Du Cubisme'', or ''Du « Cubisme »'' (and in English, ''On Cubism'' or ''Cubism''), is a book written in 1912 by Albert Gleizes and Jean Metzinger. This was the first major text on Cubism, predating ''The Cubist P ...
'', 1912 File:Fernand Léger, 1912, Composition (Study for Nude Model in the Studio), Metropolitan Museum of Art.jpg, ''Composition'' (Study for ''Nude Model in the Studio''), 1912, oil, gouache, and ink on paper, 63.8 × 48.3 cm,
Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...
File:Fernand Léger, 1912-13, Paysage (Landscape), oil on canvas, 92 x 81 cm.jpg, ''Paysage'' (''Landscape''), 1912–13, oil on canvas, 92 × 81 cm File:Fernand Léger, 1913, Contrast of Forms (Contraste de formes), published in Der Sturm, 5 September 1920.jpg, ''Contrast of Forms'' (''Contraste de formes''), 1913. Published in ''
Der Sturm ''Der Sturm'' () was a German List of avant-garde magazines, avant-garde art and literary magazine founded by Herwarth Walden, covering Expressionism, Cubism, Dada and Surrealism, among other artistic movements. It was published between 1910 an ...
'', 5 September 1920 File:Fernand Léger, 1914, Nature morte (Still life).jpg, ''Nature morte'' (''Still life''), 1914 File:Fernand Léger, 1914, Paysage No. 1 (Le Village dans la forêt), oil on burlap, 74 x 93 cm, Albright-Knox Art Gallery.jpg, ''Paysage No. 1'' (''Le Village dans la forêt''), 1914, oil on burlap, 74 x 93 cm,
Albright-Knox Art Gallery The Buffalo AKG Art Museum, formerly known as the Albright–Knox Art Gallery, is an art museum at 1285 Elmwood Avenue, Buffalo, New York, in Delaware Park. the museum's Elmwood Avenue campus is temporarily closed for construction. It hosted e ...
File:Fernand Léger, 1914, The Smoker, oil on canvas, 100.3 x 81.3 cm, Metropolitan Museum of Art.jpg, ''Le Fumeur'' (''The Smoker''), 1914, oil on canvas, 100.3 x 81.3 cm, Metropolitan Museum of Art File:Fernand Leger, 1918, Dans L'Usine, oil on canvas, 56 x 38 cm (22 x 15 in).jpg, ''Dans L'Usine'', 1918, oil on canvas, 56 × 38 cm File:Fernand Léger, 1919, The City (La Ville), oil on canvas, 231.1 x 298.4 cm, Philadelphia Museum of Art.jpg, '' The City (La ville)'', 1919, oil on canvas, 231.1 × 298.4 cm,
Philadelphia Museum of Art The Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMoA) is an art museum originally chartered in 1876 for the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. The main museum building was completed in 1928 on Fairmount, a hill located at the northwest end of the Benjamin Fr ...
File:Leger railway crossing.jpg, ''The Railway Crossing'', 1919, oil on canvas, 54.1 × 65.7 cm,
Art Institute of Chicago The Art Institute of Chicago in Chicago's Grant Park, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the world. Recognized for its curatorial efforts and popularity among visitors, the museum hosts approximately 1.5 mill ...
File:Fernand Léger - Grand parade with red background (mosaic) 1958 made.jpg, ''Grand parade with red background'', 1958 (designed in 1953), mosaic,
National Gallery of Victoria The National Gallery of Victoria, popularly known as the NGV, is an art museum in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1861, it is Australia's oldest and most visited art museum. The NGV houses an encyclopedic art collection across two ...


References and sources

;References ;Sources *Bartorelli, Guido (2011). ''Fernand Léger cubista 1909-1914''. Padova, Italy: Cleup. . *Buck, Robert T. et al. (1982). ''Fernand Léger''. New York: Abbeville Publishers. . *Cowling, Elizabeth; Mundy, Jennifer (1990). ''On Classic Ground: Picasso, Léger, de Chirico and the New Classicism 1910-1930''. London: Tate Gallery. . *Eliel, Carol S. et al. (2001). ''L'Esprit Nouveau: Purism in Paris, 1918-1925''. New York: Harry Abrams, Inc. . *Léger, Fernand (1973). ''Functions of Painting''. New York: Viking Press. Translation by Alexandra Anderson. *Léger, Fernand (2009). ''F. Léger''. exhibition catalogue. Paris: Galerie Malingue. . *Néret, Gilles (1993). ''F. Léger''. New York: BDD Illustrated Books. .


External links

*
Artcyclopedia
- Links to Léger's works *
Fernand Léger
at the Musée d’art moderne et contemporain Saint-Etienne Métropole

- Biography and images of Léger's works
Ballet Mecanique
- Watch Fernand Léger's Short Film *
Paintings by Fernand Léger Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ...
(public domain in Canada)
Fernand Léger, L'Esprit nouveau: revue internationale d'esthétique, 1920
Gallica, Bibliothèque nationale de France *
Fernand Léger
at the Tate Liverpool
Discussion of "Trois femmes sur fond rouge, 1927"
in French {{DEFAULTSORT:Leger, Fernand 1881 births 1955 deaths 20th-century French painters 20th-century French male artists Abstract painters École nationale supérieure des arts décoratifs alumni Académie Julian alumni Ballet designers Cubist artists French abstract artists French film directors French male painters French military personnel of World War I Modern painters Orphism (art) People from Argentan Purism French Communist Party members