Fernand Léger - vendere e comprare opere

4 February 1881, Argentan, Normandy (France) - 17 August 1955, Gif-sur-Yvette (France)

Joseph Fernand Henri Léger was a French painter, sculptor and film-maker. The artist was long a proponent of Cubism, but subsequently developed a figurative style with simplified, vivid representation of modern themes, thereby becoming one of the pioneers of the Pop Art movement.

Léger studied architecture before moving to Paris in 1900. However, aged 25, he decided to devote himself fully to a career as an artist. Léger’s early works are reminiscent of Impressionism, but he later developed a personal Cubist style that was originally inspired by Paul Cézanne. The predominance of pipes in his art led critics to dub his style ‘tubism’.
Having survived a gas attack during the First World War, he depicted his wartime experiences in a new ‘mechanical’ style. He began what would be a lifelong friendship with Le Corbusier after the war. Subsequently, his work followed the tradition of French figurative art. He admired Henri Rousseau, above all, and predominantly exhibited his works in the Galerie Kahnweiler.
He set up his own school in the 1930s and spent the war years in the U.S.A., teaching at Yale University. During his time there, he developed his ‘law of contrast’, inspired by the symbiosis of industrial ruins and nature.
The last decade of his artistic activity saw him dedicate himself to a great number of projects, such as leaded windows, ceramic artefacts, book illustrations, stage sets and costumes.

Some of his works were shown posthumously at documenta in Kassel.