Joseph Fernand Henri Léger (; February 4, 1881 – August 17, 1955) was a French

painter Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

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 or film production is the process by which a Film, motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, beginning with an initial story, idea, or commission. Production then continues through screen ...

. In his early works he created a personal form of

cubism Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement which began in Paris. It revolutionized painting and the visual arts, and sparked artistic innovations in music, ballet, literature, and architecture. Cubist subjects are analyzed, broke ...

(known as " tubism") which he gradually modified into a more figurative,

populist Populism is a contested concept used to refer to a variety of political stances that emphasize the idea of the " common people" and often position this group in opposition to a perceived elite. It is frequently associated with anti-establis ...

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. As of 2019, Argentan is the third largest municipality by population in the Orne department.

Orne Orne (; 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, 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 ( ; ) is a former royal residence commissioned by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, about west of Paris, in the Yvelines, Yvelines Department of Île-de-France, Île-de-France region in Franc ...

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 ; ) refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The term is associated with the Beaux-Arts architecture, Beaux-Arts style in architecture and city planning that thrived in France and other countries during the late nineteenth centu ...

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 () was a private art school for painting and sculpture founded in Paris, France, in 1867 by French painter and teacher Rodolphe Julian (1839–1907). The school was active from 1868 through 1968. It remained famous for the number and qual ...

. 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 visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...

, 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 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. It is split betwee ...

and met

Alexander Archipenko Alexander Porfyrovych Archipenko (February 25, 1964) was a Ukrainian-American avant-garde artist, sculpture, sculptor, and graphic designer, graphic artist, active in France and the United States. He was one of the first to apply the principles o ...

Jacques Lipchitz Jacques Lipchitz (26 May 1973) was a Lithuanian-born French-American 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, domi ...

Marc Chagall Marc Chagall (born Moishe Shagal; – 28 March 1985) was a Russian and French artist. An early modernism, modernist, he was associated with the School of Paris, École de Paris, as well as several major art movement, artistic styles and created ...

, Joseph Csaky and

Robert Delaunay Robert Delaunay (; 12 April 1885 – 25 October 1941) was a French artist of the School of Paris movement; who, with his wife Sonia Delaunay and others, co-founded the Orphism (art), Orphism art movement, noted for its use of strong colours and g ...

. In 1910, he exhibited at the Salon d'Automne 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. 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 which began in Paris. It revolutionized painting and the visual arts, and sparked artistic innovations in music, ballet, literature, and architecture. Cubist subjects are analyzed, broke ...

that his critics termed " Tubism" 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 A drawing room is a room in a house where visitors may be entertained, and an alternative name for a living room. The name i ...

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, writer, filmmaker, magazine publisher, poet, and typography, typographist closely associated with Dada. When consid ...

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 art, abstract painter and printmaker. Early life Born Émile Méry Frédéric Gaston Duchamp in Damville, Eure, Damville, Eure, ...

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, Futurism and conceptual art. He is commonly regarded, along with Pablo Pica ...

to form the Puteaux Group—also called the '' Section d'Or'' (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 Primary colors are 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 broad range of colors in, e.g., electronic displays, color printin ...

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 , "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 assembly of different forms, thus creating a new whole. (Compare with pasti ...

technique pioneered by

Braque Georges Braque ( ; ; 13 May 1882 – 31 August 1963) was a major 20th-century French painter, collagist, draughtsman, printmaker and sculptor. His most notable contributions were in his alliance with Fauvism from 1905, and the role he play ...

and

Picasso Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, Ceramic art, ceramicist, and Scenic ...

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 (, , ), is the principal Army, land warfare force of France, and the largest component of the French Armed Forces; it is responsible to the Government of France, alongside the French Navy, Fren ...

, 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 are names commonly used for the organosulfur compound, organosulfur chemical compound bis(2-chloroethyl) sulfide, which has the chemical structure S(CH2CH2Cl)2, as well as other Chemical species, species. In the wi ...

attack by the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

troops at

Verdun Verdun ( , ; ; ; official name before 1970: Verdun-sur-Meuse) is a city in the Meuse (department), Meuse departments of France, department in Grand Est, northeastern France. It is an arrondissement of the department. In 843, the Treaty of V ...

. 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 architectural designer, painter, urban planner and writer, who was one of the pioneers of what is now regarded as modern architecture ...

, 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 following the First World War that rejected the extreme avant-garde art of the years up to 1918 and emphasized the classical ideals of order and rationality. The movem ...

" in the arts, and link him to the tradition of French figurative painting represented by

Poussin Nicolas Poussin (, , ; June 1594 – 19 November 1665) was a French painter who was a leading painter of the Classicism, classical French Baroque style, although he spent most of his working life in Rome. Most of his works were on religious and ...

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 t ...

. 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 Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, Gug ...

, an artist Léger greatly admired and whom he had met in 1909. They also share traits with the work of Le Corbusier and Amédée Ozenfant 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 f ...

, 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 A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, 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'' (The Inhuman One). In 1924, in collaboration with and

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 sounds – musical, industrial, and mechanical – of the ear ...

and

Man Ray Man Ray (born Emmanuel Radnitzky; August 27, 1890 – November 18, 1976) was an American naturalized French visual artist who spent most of his career in Paris. He was a significant contributor to the Dada and Surrealism, Surrealist movements, ...

, Léger and the filmmaker Dudley Murphy co-produced and co-directed the iconic and

Futurism Futurism ( ) was an Art movement, 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 as the ...

-influenced film '' Ballet Mécanique'' (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, a free school where he taught from 1924, with Alexandra Exter and Marie Laurencin. 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 (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...

in New York presented an exhibition of his work. In 1938, Léger was commissioned to decorate

Nelson Rockefeller Nelson Aldrich "Rocky" Rockefeller (July 8, 1908 – January 26, 1979) was the 41st vice president of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977 under President Gerald Ford. He was also the 49th governor of New York, serving from 1959 to 197 ...

's apartment.

1940s

During World War II Léger lived in the United States. He taught at

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

, 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. 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 Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...

, designed mosaics and stained-glass windows for the

Central University of Venezuela Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...

Caracas Caracas ( , ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas (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 northern p ...

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

, 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 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

Opera, which he would not live to finish. Fernand Léger died suddenly at his home in 1955 and is buried in Gif-sur-Yvette,

Essonne Essonne () is a department in the southern part of the Île-de-France region in Northern France. 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 in Paris, then in 1931 at the Sorbonne, and then developing his own '' Académie Fernand Léger'', which was in Paris, then at the Yale School of Art and Architecture (1938–1939), Mills College Art Gallery 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: ), previously Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie (RKD), is located in The Hague and is home to the largest art history center in the world. The center specializes in document ...

Among his many international pupils were Nadir Afonso, Paul Georges, Charlotte Gilbertson, Hananiah Harari,

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. The largest collection of Jorn's works� ...

, Michael Loew, Beverly Pepper, Victor Reinganum, Marcel Mouly, René Margotton, Saloua Raouda Choucair and

Charlotte Wankel Charlotte Wankel (12 May 1888 – 2 August 1969) was a Norway, Norwegian painting, painter regarded as one of the first Norwegian cubist and painters of abstract art. Biography Wankel was raised by wealthy parents at the :no:Kambo, Kambo estate ...

, Peter Agostini,

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, Arie Aroch, Alma del Banco, Christian Berg,

Louise Bourgeois Louise Joséphine Bourgeois (; 25 December 191131 May 2010) was a French-American artist. Although she is best known for her large-scale sculpture and installation art, Bourgeois was also a prolific painter and printmaker. She explored a varie ...

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, Otto Gustaf Carlsund, Saloua Raouda Choucair, Robert Colescott, Lars Englund,

Tsuguharu Foujita was a Japanese–French painter. After having studied Western-style painting in Japan, Foujita traveled to Paris, where he encountered the international modern art scene of the Montparnasse neighborhood and developed an eclectic style that borrow ...

, Sam Francis,

Serge Gainsbourg Serge Gainsbourg (; born Lucien Ginsburg; 2 April 1928 – 2 March 1991) was a French singer-songwriter, actor, composer, and director. Regarded as one of the most important figures in French pop, he was renowned for often provocative rel ...

Hans Hartung Hans Hartung (21 September 1904 – 7 December 1989) was a German-French painter, known for his gestural abstract style. He was also a decorated World War II veteran of the Legion d'honneur. Life Hartung was born in Leipzig, Germany, into an ...

, Florence Henri, William Klein, Maryan, George Lovett Kingsland Morris, Marlow Moss,

Aurélie Nemours Aurelie Nemours (29 October 1910 – 27 January 2005) was a French painter who made abstract geometrical paintings and was highly influenced by De Stijl, or neoplasticism. Biography Aurelie Nemours was born 29 October 1910 in Paris, France. ...

, Gerhard Neumann, Jules Olitski, Erik Olson, Richard Stankiewicz, Theo Stavropoulos and Stasys Usinskas. In 1952, a pair of Léger murals was installed in the General Assembly Hall of the

United Nations headquarters The headquarters of the United Nations (UN) is on of grounds in the Turtle Bay, Manhattan, Turtle Bay neighborhood of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It borders First Avenue (Manhattan), First Avenue to the west, 42nd Street (Manhattan), 42nd ...

in New York City. In 1960, the Fernand Léger Museum was opened in Biot, Alpes-Maritimes, France. Léger bequeathed his residence (at 108 Avenue du General Leclerc, Gif sur Yvette, Paris) to the

French Communist Party The French Communist Party (, , PCF) is a Communism, communist list of political parties in France, party in France. The PCF is a member of the Party of the European Left, and its Member of the European Parliament, MEPs sit with The Left in the ...

, which later hosted negotiations of the

Paris Peace Accords The Paris Peace Accords (), officially the Agreement on Ending the War and Restoring Peace in Viet Nam (), was a peace agreement signed on January 27, 1973, to establish peace in Vietnam and end the Vietnam War. It took effect at 8:00 the follo ...

between the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

Democratic Republic of Vietnam North Vietnam, officially the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV; ; VNDCCH), was a country in Southeast Asia from 1945 to 1976, with sovereignty fully recognized in 1954. A member of the communist Eastern Bloc, it opposed the French-suppor ...

Republic of Vietnam South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam (RVN; , VNCH), was a country in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975. It first garnered international recognition in 1949 as the State of Vietnam within the French Union, with it ...

and the

Republic of South Vietnam The Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam (PRG, ), was formed on 8 June 1969, by the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam) as an armed underground government opposing the government of the Republic of ...

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 t ...

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 th ...

)

United States dollar The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...

s. In August 2008, one of Léger's paintings owned by

Wellesley College Wellesley College is a Private university, private Women's colleges in the United States, historically women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Wellesley, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1870 by Henr ...

's Davis Museum and Cultural Center, ''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 (PMA) is an List of art museums#North America, 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 ...

. 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. Reproduced in '' Du "Cubisme"'', 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 (also referred to as MAM) is an art museum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Its collection of over 34,000 works of art and gallery spaces totaling 150,000 sq. ft. (13,900 m²) make it the largest art museum in the state of Wis ...

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"'', 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, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...

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 a ...

'', 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 located adjacent to Delaware Park, Buffalo, New York, United States. The museum shows modern art and contemporary art. It is directly opposite Buff ...

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,

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, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the United States. The museum is based in the Art Institute of Chicago Building in Chicago's Grant Park (Chicago), Grant Park. Its collection, stewa ...

File:Woman with a Cat.jpg, '' Woman with a Cat'', 1921, oil on canvas, 130.8 × 90.5 cm,

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 (state), Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1861, it is Australia's oldest and list of most visited art museums in the world, most visited art mu ...

File:Leger-UCV.JPG,

Stained-glass Stained glass refers to coloured glass as a material or art and architectural works created from it. Although it is traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensio ...

window at the

, 1954

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
(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 French abstract painters École nationale supérieure des arts décoratifs alumni Académie Julian alumni Ballet designers French cubist artists French film directors French male painters French military personnel of World War I Orphism (art) People from Argentan Painters from Normandy Purism French Communist Party members