Fernand Léger

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Still Life with a Beer Mug, 1921

Joseph Fernand Henri Léger (February 4, 1881 – August 17, 1955) was a French painter, sculptor, and filmmaker.

Born in the Argentan, Orne, Basse-Normandie, at age 19 Léger moved to the Montparnasse area of Paris and supported himself as an architectural draftsman. After military service in 1902-1903, he enrolled at the School of Decorative Arts, but was rejected by the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. As a non-enrolled student at the Beaux-Arts, he spent what he described as "three empty and useless years" studying with Gérôme and others, while also studying at the Académie Julian. He began to work seriously as a painter at the age of 25. Up to this point his paintings were primarily influenced by Impressionism, as seen in Le Jardin de ma mère (My Mother's Garden) of 1905, one of the few of the works from this period that he did not later destroy. After seeing the Cézanne retrospective at the Salon d'Automne in 1907 he decisively changed direction, emphasizing drawing and geometry.^[1]

In 1909 he moved to Montparnasse and met Henri Rousseau, whose work would influence the folk-like frontality seen in many of Léger's compositions; meanwhile, he developed his own form of Cubism—his critics called it "Tubism"—as exemplified by the painting Nudes in the Forest (1909-10).^[2] 1911 he joined with several other artists to form the Puteaux Group, an offshoot of the Cubist movement. From then until 1914, Léger's work became increasingly abstract, utilizing a sparse vocabulary of mostly cylindrical forms. He started to limit his palette to the primary colours plus black and white, rendered in rough patches, as seen in the series of paintings with the title Contrasting Forms

Léger served in the French Army during World War I, and almost died after being the victim of a mustard gas attack by the German troops. From 1917 onwards, he entered his "mechanical" period, during which the figures and objects he created were characterized by sleekly rendered tubular and machine-like forms.^[3]

In 1924, with Dudley Murphy, Léger created the iconic and Futurism-influenced film, Ballet Mécanique, as an extension to his exploration into the mechanical and machine-like visuals; during the period, he also began collaborating with Amédée Ozenfant.^[4] In the 1930s, the character of Léger's work gradually changed as organic and irregular forms assumed greater importance.^[5]

The Railway Crossing, 1919, The Art Institute of Chicago

In 1935, the Museum of Modern Art in New York City presented an exhibition of his work. Léger lived in the United States during World War II, and returned to France in 1945. During this period his work became less abstract, and he produced many monumental figure compositions depicting scenes of popular life featuring acrobats, construction workers, divers, and country outings. His varied projects included book illustrations, murals, stained-glass windows, mosaics, polychrome ceramic sculptures, and set and costume designs.

Fernand Léger died at his home in 1955 and is buried in Gif-sur-Yvette, Essonne.

In November of 2003, his painting, La femme en rouge et vert sold for 22,407,500 United States dollars. His sculptures have been selling in excess of 8 million dollars.

In 1960 The Musée Fernand Léger was opened in Biot, Alpes-Maritimes.

[edit] References

^ Néret, 1993, pp. 35-38.
^ Buck, 1982, pp. 54 & 141.
^ Buck, 1982, p. 31.
^ Néret, 1993, p. 244.
^ Cowling and Mundy, 1990, p 144.

Buck, Robert T. et al. (1982). Fernand Léger. New York: Abbeville Publishers. ISBN 0-89659-254-5
Cowling, Elizabeth; Mundy, Jennifer (1990). On Classic Ground: Picasso, Léger, de Chirico and the New Classicism 1910-1930. London: Tate Gallery. ISBN 1-854-37043-X
Eliel, Carol S. et al. (2001). L'Esprit Nouveau: Purism in Paris, 1918-1925. New York: Harry Abrams, Inc. ISBN 0-8109-6727-8
Néret, Gilles (1993). F. Léger. New York: BDD Illustrated Books. ISBN 0-7924-5848-6