Fernand Leger

Artist Information

Born in Argentan, Normandy, Fernand Léger embarked on his artistic journey as an apprentice to an architect in Caen from 1897 to 1899. He then worked as a draughtsman in an architect’s office in Paris from 1900 to 1902 and later as a photographic retoucher from 1903 to 1904. Despite failing the entrance exam for the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris in 1903, he studied at the École des Arts Décoratifs and the Académie Julian.

Around 1909, Léger became associated with the Cubists and joined the informal Puteaux group in 1911. By 1913, he had signed a contract with the art dealer Kahnweiler. His work during this period featured tubular and curvilinear abstractions that contrasted with the rectilinear forms preferred by Picasso and Braque. Notably, around 1911, Léger was the first of the Cubists to experiment with non-figurative abstraction.

During World War I, Léger was gassed and subsequently discharged in 1917. He formed close friendships with Le Corbusier and Ozenfant, collaborating with Ozenfant in the atelier libre. In 1925, Léger exhibited at Le Corbusier’s Pavillon de l’Esprit Nouveau and created mural decorations with Delaunay for the exhibition ‘Les Arts Décoratifs’. His work during this time exemplified the ‘machine aesthetic’ of the Purist movement, characterized by static paintings with the precise, polished look of machinery, often featuring mechanical parts.

In the late 1920s and 1930s, Léger’s work included single objects isolated in space and sometimes enlarged to gigantic sizes. He also engaged in theatrical décor, especially for the Ballets Suédois, and in cinema, creating the film Ballets mécanique in 1924, the first film without a scenario. During World War II, he lived in the U.S., teaching at Yale University and Mills College, California. His paintings during this period often depicted acrobats and cyclists.

Upon returning to France in 1945, Léger’s work increasingly reflected his political interest in the working classes. His style remained static and monumental, characterized by flat, unmodulated colors, heavy black contours, and a focus on the contrast between cylindrical and rectilinear forms. In 1949, he opened a ceramics studio with his former pupil Robert Brice, creating works like the glass mosaic for the University of Caracas in 1951.

The Léger Museum was founded in his honor in Biot, featuring large ceramic panels designed by him. Memorial retrospective exhibitions were held at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris, in 1956, and at the Haus der Kunst, Munich, in 1957.

Léger’s experience during the war, particularly his contact with men from various social classes and professions, profoundly impacted him. He aimed to create art accessible to all, capturing the poetic value in everyday objects and the beauty of modern machinery. He often depicted proletarian subjects with the same clarity and precision as mechanical themes. His influential views were articulated in a 1923 lecture at the Collège de France titled ‘The Aesthetics of the Machine: Manufactured Objects, Artisan and Artist’. His impact on contemporary artists was significant and diverse.

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