Fernand Léger

French painter (1881-1955) · France · Artists · Died at 74

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He bent cubism into cylinders and called it "tubism," then pushed past that into bold, flattened shapes that made factory gears and workers look like the same kind of object - a treatment so direct it anticipated pop art by decades.

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A life in dates

1955Died17 August 19551925“..the personification of the close-up detail, the individualisation of the fragment, where the drama takes shape, moves and have it being. Film concurs with this aspect for life.”In their wordsQuote from: 'L'ésthetique de la Machine - l'Ordre Géometrique et le Vrai', in Propos d’Artistes, 1925Read the whole statement

1923“Instead of opposing comic and tragic characters [as Molière and Shakespeare] and contrary scenic states, I organize the opposition of contrasting values, lines, and curves.”In their wordsQuote from 'Notes on Contemporary Plastic Life', 'Kunstblatt', Berlin 1923; as quoted in The documents of 20th century art - Functions ofRead the whole statement

1920“I myself have employed the close-up, which is the cinema's only real invention. The fragment of the object has also been of use to me; by isolating it you personalize it.”In their wordsQuote in 'Autour de Ballet Méchanique', as quoted in Fernand Léger - The Later Years -, catalogue ed. Nicolas Serota; published by theRead the whole statement

1914“The Impressionists were the first [painters] to reject the absolute value of the subject and to consider its value to be merely relative..”In their wordsQuote, 1914, in 'Functions of Painting by Fernand Leger'; p. 11Read the whole statement

“The compression of the modern picture, its variety, its breaking up of forms..”In their wordsQuote, 1914, in 'Functions of Painting by Fernand Leger'; p. 12Read the whole statement

“Contrast = dissonance, and hence a maximum expressive effect.”In their wordsQuote, 1914, in 'Functions of Painting by Fernand Leger'; p. 14Read the whole statement

1881Born4 February 1881

Also in Deutsch

Photos 8

Fernand Léger

Child with Accordion - Fernand Léger

Jeune fille au corsage jaune - Fernand Léger

La Noce (étude) PM

Le Troisième Livre des monogrammes, cachets, marques et ex-libris - composés par Georges Auriol ; (texte de Geoffroy Tory en préface) - btv1b10501758p (173 of 210)

Leaves and Shell N05907 9

Mother and Child, 1951 - Fernand Léger

Objets contrastés sur fond bleu - Fernand Léger

In their own words 10

Fernand Léger

10 statements, newest first

..the personification of the close-up detail, the individualisation of the fragment, where the drama takes shape, moves and have it being. Film concurs with this aspect for life.
1925, Quote from: 'L'ésthetique de la Machine - l'Ordre Géometrique et le Vrai', in Propos d’Artistes, 1925, Own words
[a new order] ..independent of the values of the feelings, and the description and imitation of nature..
Jun 1924, Quote from Leger's lecture "The aesthetics of the machine", in Paris, June 1924; as quoted by Paul Westheim in Confessions of Artists. -, Own words
The relationship of volumes, lines, and colors demands absolute orchestration and order.
1923, Quote from 'Notes on Contemporary Plastic Life', in 'Kunstblatt', Berlin 1923; as quoted in The documents of 20th century art - Functions, Own words

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In their orbit

Spouse: Nadia Léger

About this person

Fernand Léger was born February 4, 1881, in France, and trained as a painter at a moment when cubism was fracturing Paris. He carved out his own version of it early on, building forms from tubes and cylinders in a style that got labeled "tubism." Over time he pulled away from pure abstraction, simplifying figures and objects into something more populist and accessible, painting modern life - machines, laborers, urban scenes - with the same boldly geometric treatment. That flattening of high and low, that unapologetic directness with contemporary subject matter, put him ahead of the curve: critics later saw him as a forerunner of pop art. He also worked in sculpture and film before his death on August 17, 1955.

Country

France

In common with Fernand

Alice PrinAlso in Ballet Mécanique (1924)

Dudley MurphyAlso in Ballet Mécanique (1924)André CharlotAlso in Ballet Mécanique (1924)

Artists from France 3

Henri Rousseau59.0

Philippe II, Duke of Orléans58.4

Odilon Redon59.0

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