Leger, Fernand

Fernand Leger

Fernand Lager is the only major modern artist to choose modernity itself as his subject. From his early series Contrastes de formes of 1913-14--the first fully abstract works to emerge from Cubism--through his paintings of construction workers from the late 1940s and early 1950s, his enduring subject was the pulse and dynamism of everyday life. Lager saw the 20th century environment as a "state of contrasts," a condition that he translated into art through forceful juxtaposition of shape, color, and line. His attempt to reconcile the formal concerns of artmaking with issues of social responsibility continues to be relevant to the art world of today. Accompanying texts recount Lager's experience of and interest in America and America's interest in him; explore refractions of Lager's interests in the work of more recent artists; and discuss Lager's ambition to make an art reflecting the "new visual state" of modern life. An illustrated chronology tells the story of the artist's life, focusing on his time in America, the plate section is complemented by a series of short essays tracing the formal and thematic developments in his art, and a selected bibliography and detailed exhibition history complete the book.This book was published to accompany the 1998 retrospective at The Museum of Modern Art, New York.

Fernand Leger: Contrasts of Forms

Between 1912 and 1914, Fernand Lèger executed a large cycle of works known as the Contrasts of Forms. The series embraces the genres of landscape, still life, and figure, but at its core are numerous arresting compositions that sweep aside observation to focus on formal principles. The common denominator is a complex vocabulary of mingled cones, cylinders, cubes, and planes, vigorously outlined and scrubbed with color (in the paintings) or with black ink and white gouache (in the works on paper). The Contrasts of Forms are essential to two great chapters in the history of modern art in the years before the First World War: first, the development of cubism, and second, the emergence of abstract art.

Curated by Lèger scholar Matthew Affron and organized by the University of Virginia Art Museum, this tightly focused exhibition unites two landmark paintings with eleven works on paper from major museums and private collections. Fernand Lèger: Contrasts of Forms was presented at the University of Virginia Art Museum from January 19 to March 18, 2007, and will be at the Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University Art Museums, from April 14 to June 10, 2007. The full-color catalogue features two essays. Affron examines the logic of the Contrasts of Forms and the importance of this cycle in shaping the character of Lèger's art. Maria Gough (Stanford University) focuses on the drawings and on Lèger's notion of abstraction.

Fernand Leger

Fernand Leger: The Later Years

Fernand Leger

Fernand Leger

F. Leger

Leger: Monumental Oeuvre

Mural painting became a significant part of Fernand L,ger's work with commissions for the World's Fairs of 1925 and then 1937, held in Paris. They grew increasingly important during the years preceding his exile in America, then, upon on his return to France, in the context of Reconstruction. Due to his international fame, opportunities arose in Europe, the United States, South America and Canada. Yvonne Brunhammer is the former chief curator of the Mus,e des Arts D,coratifs in Paris. Pierre Descargues is a famous French art historian and a personal friend of L,ger and many other twentieth century artist.

Max Beckmann and Paris: Matisse Picasso Braque Leger Rouault (Jumbo Series)

Leger: The Late Works at Pace

A folder containing five prints on cards of approximately eight inches by ten inches: 3 in black-and-white, two in color. Works are: La Partie de Campagne (color), Etude pour les Constructeurs (black-and-white), Etude pour la Grande Parade (black-and-white), L'Anniversaire (color), and Etude pour les Constructeurs (black-and-white). Also includes a card giving the titles of the 22 works that were in the exhibition.