Fernand Léger · The Museum

Joseph Fernand Henri Léger was a French painter, sculptor, and filmmaker. In his early works he created a personal form of cubism which he gradually modified into a more figurative, populist style. His boldly simplified treatment of modern subject matter has caused him to be regarded as a forerunner of pop art.

Nudes in the forest

1910120 × 170 cmKröller-Müller Museum

Fernand Léger · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

The Wedding

1910257 × 206 cmMusée National d'Art Moderne

Fernand Léger · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Les Fumeurs

1911129 × 96 cmSolomon R. Guggenheim Museum

Fernand Léger · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

The Woman in Blue

1912193 × 129 cmKunstmuseum Basel

Aerra Carnicom · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Contrast of Forms

1913100 × 81 cmMusée National d'Art Moderne

Francesco Bini · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

The Alarm Clock

1914100 × 81 cmMusée National d'Art Moderne

Fernand Léger · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

The City

1919231 × 298 cmPhiladelphia Museum of Art

The City is an oil on canvas painting by French painter and sculptor Fernand Léger, from 1919.

Fernand Léger · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

The Tug

1920114 × 145 cmMuseum of Grenoble

The Tugboat is an oil on canvas painting by French painter Fernand Léger, from 1920. It is held at the Museum of Grenoble, which purchased it from the artist, in 1928.

Léger was impressed by the universal exhibitions of the early 20th century. Like Marcel Duchamp, he was inspired by the machines that he saw at the fourth exhibition of aerial locomotion, which took place in Paris just before the First World War. History and description →

Jérôme Villafruela · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Man and Woman

1921Q1117704

Man and Woman is an oil-on-canvas painting executed in 1921 by the French artist Fernand Léger. The painting is a cubist portrait of a man and a woman locked in a passionate embrace at odds with their depersonalized, industrialized setting. The painting is held by the Indianapolis Museum of Art, United States.

Léger rejected many aspects of cubism, such as multiple simultaneous vantage points, but retained the trait of reducing figures to their most basic, geometric components. To that end, the woman in this painting consists of curves and the color orange, while the man is depicted in columns and blue. Description →

Léger's battlefront experiences during World War I instilled in him the conviction that art should reflect the new, mechanized world, and be accessible to the average person. He identified strongly with the working class. Historical information →

Man and Woman was acquired by the IMA in 1952, courtesy of the Martha Delzell Memorial Fund. It has the acquisition number 52.28. Acquisition →

Fernand Léger · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Still Life with Candlestick

1922116 × 80 cmMusée d'art moderne de Paris

Still Life with Candlestick is an oil on canvas painting created in 1922 by the French artist Fernand Léger.

Fernand Léger · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

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