Fernand Léger

Biography of Fernand Léger

Fernand Léger was born in 1881, in Argentan, Normandy. Gifted with drawing from a young age, he began by working in an architectural firm before moving to Paris to join the School of Decorative Arts. His early works were influenced by Impressionism, before the discovery of Paul Cézanne's work led him towards Cubism, just before 1910.

After the First World War, mechanical elements, symbols of modernity, began to appear in his paintings.

The 1920s were a period of abundant commissions, encounters, and creations. Illustrating texts, including those of Blaise Cendrars, and working in cinema, notably with Abel Gance, he discovered, through his dealer Léonce Rosenberg, the work of Piet Mondrian, and collaborated with Le Corbusier. Influenced by cinema, his reflections led him to conduct research on the placement of objects liberated from any support, defying gravity. The major work of this period was "Mona Lisa with Keys".

The 1930s were marked by international recognition, and Yale University asked him to come and give lectures on "the action of color in architecture". Naturally, he headed to the United States, as early as the outbreak of war in 1939. There, he created the famous series "Cyclists", as well as many landscapes featuring agricultural machinery (yet another symbol of modernity).

The post-war period was marked by his work on polychrome bas-reliefs and stained glass. In painting, he created one of his masterpieces, "The Constructors".

The works of his later life were associated with a certain joy of living, such as "The Grand Parade" and the series "Country Parties". He died in 1955. In Biot, on a property bought shortly before his death, a museum entirely dedicated to his work was inaugurated in 1960.

© Natacha PELLETIER for PASSION ESTAMPES