Fernand Léger

Fernand Léger (1881-1955), French painter, who influenced Cubism, Constructivism, and the modern commercial poster and other types of applied art. Born in Argentan, France, he served a two-year architecture apprenticeship in Caen, and later studied unofficially under two professors at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. From 1910 he was a prominent exhibitor and member of the Salon des Indépendants. Most of his early pictures were Cubist in character, as in Nudes in the Forest (1909-1910, Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo). Along with Georges Braque and Pablo Picasso, Léger played an important role in the development and spread of Cubism.

Léger's subsequent work was influenced by his experiences in World War I. He began to use many symbols from the industrial world and attempted to depict his objects and people in machine-like forms. The City (1919, Philadelphia Museum of Art) is one of his most notable paintings. Léger's work had an important influence on Neo-Plasticism in the Netherlands and Constructivism in the former Soviet Union. He was highly successful as a glass painter, sculptor, mosaicist, ceramicist, and tapestry designer. The modern commercial poster and other types of applied art were also influenced by his original designs.

In his late paintings, Léger separated colour from his figures, which, while they retained their robot-like shapes, were painted in black lines. The colour was then boldly laid over areas of the canvas to form a separate composition that tied the entire painting together. The Great Parade (1954, Guggenheim Museum, New York), one of his last paintings, is a monumental example of this original style.