#fernandleger

Happy Birthday to Fernand Léger who were born on this day in 1881!

French artist, Léger (1881 – 1955) spent two years in service for the French Army at the front in Argonne. His experiences in World War I had a significant effect on his work. While serving in the army, he made many sketches of artillery pieces and fellow soldiers while in the trenches. In September 1916, he almost died from a mustard gas attack. Later, he explained the mechanical and robotic figures and machine-like forms in his paintings thusly:

“...I was stunned by the sight of the breech of a 75 millimeter in the sunlight. It was the magic of light on the white metal. That's all it took for me to forget the abstract art of 1912–1913. The crudeness, variety, humor, and downright perfection of certain men around me, their precise sense of utilitarian reality and its application in the midst of the life-and-death drama we were in ... made me want to paint in slang with all its color and mobility.” (Summarized from Wikipedia.)

Image description:

1. Black and white photograph of the artist in a trench with a cigarette in his mouth.

2. Painting of an abstract human figure with tuber forms with a pipe in his mouth.

3. Painting of a man with a mustache wearing a black tank top looking side way, his arms almost crossed with his right hand holding a cigarette, painted in simplified forms with bold colors, red, black, and some yellow.

4. Watercolor sketch with loose brush strokes with light colors, some yellow, brown, and olive green with black outlines.

Fernand Léger in the Argonne Black and white photography Photographer unidentified French 1915 HOLLIS number: olvwork731577

Soldier with pipe Léger, Fernand, 1881-1955, French [artist] 50 x 27" French paintings 1916 Repository: Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Düsseldorf, Germany HOLLIS number: olvwork182037

Mechanic Léger, Fernand, 1881-1955, French [artist] 45 1/2 x 35" paintings 1920 Repository: National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada HOLLIS number: olvwork182067

Woman with a Cat, 1921, Fernand Léger