(Argentan 1881–1955 Gif-sur-Yvette)
Composition mécanique, monogrammed, dated F. L.23, charcoal, pencil on paper, 36.5 x 27 cm, framed

Photo Certificate:
Irus Hansma, 30.9.2015 with the no. 111/09/2015.
Irus Hansma will include the work in her Catalogue Raisonné
of works on paper, currently under preparation.

Provenance:
Private Collection USA (since 2009)
Ketterer Kunst, Munich, 10.12.2016, lot 325
European Private Collection

After serving in World War I, Fernand Léger began the “période mécanique”, in which he assembled technical objects in a cubist manner to form pictorial compositions.
In the early 1920s, Léger experimented more and more with assemblage-like works and figural compositions. Initially, he contrasted his figures, human or mechanical in nature, with flat monochrome, abstract-looking backgrounds. His “approach can be described as ‘working with building blocks’. Components that have already proved their worth in earlier paintings are repeatedly put together to form new pictures. He sends the old elements or components on a journey through time. The picture motifs are adapted to the new state of the art and thus brought to the height of his current artistry. The old is a touchstone for the new - and vice versa. This modular or assemblage technique led to large families of pictures, the development of which extended over long periods of time. The connection is always a motif or a certain arrangement, ... which recurs again and again in some works.”
(https://www.fondationbeyeler.ch/fileadmin/user_upload/Ausstellungen/Vergangene_Ausstellungen/Fernand_Leger/web_Saalzettel_deu.pdf)
The figures often appear as if cast in metal, and flaunted in cool grey, are shaded in the most diverse nuances against bright, luminous backgrounds.
Due to the strong contrast with the background and their relation to each other, the figures appear to be one large common body.
Piece by piece in the closest possible sequence, Fernand Léger ‘screws’ together, amongst other things, sculpture-like letters, perforated sheets, circles and rectangles in his work “Composition mécanique”. They interlock, complement each other, penetrate each other and reappear in seemingly varied forms. The viewer loses himself in the merging of the differently nuanced grey lines and surfaces, and with eyes full of fascination, embarks on a guided exploratory tour through the supposed ups and downs of the “Composition mécanique”.