Fernand Léger

Galerie Louis Carré, Paris (acquired from the artist)
Galerie Blanche, Stockholm
Eva Burén, Stockholm
Acquired from the above by the present owner in December 1971

Paris, Galerie Mai, Fernand Léger, œuvres récentes, 1940
Stockholm, Galerie Blanche, Fransk Konst, l'Ecole de Paris, 1950, no. 27, illustrated on the cover of the catalogue
Malmö, Galerie Blanche, Fernand Léger, 1950, no. 27, illustrated on the cover of the catalogue
Stockholm, Galerie Blanche, Fernand Léger 1881-1955, 1955, no. 14

Paul Painlevé, 'A propos d'un nouveau réalisme chez Fernand Léger', in Cahiers d'Art, Paris, 1940, illustrated pp. 3 & 4
Georges Bauquier, Fernand Léger. Catalogue raisonné 1938-1943, Paris, 1998, no. 991, illustrated in colour p. 33

The canvas is unlined. There is a 2 by 2cm. area of retouching in the red pigment in the lower centre, visible under ultra-violet light. Apart from some slight stable craquelure, this work is in good condition. Colours: Overall fairly accurate, although slightly fresher in the original.
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Aroused by political feeling and a recognition of the social potential of art, Léger's compositions of the late 1930s adopted a universal approach and elemental iconography. Seeking to appeal to the masses, Léger's aesthetic rejected the need for any narrative, subverting conventional means of pictorial representation. This new style sought to break down the divides between high and low culture by celebrating the beauty of everyday objects.

Juxtaposing the organic with the structural, Léger used his 'law of contrasts' to replace the traditional constraints derived from Renaissance theory. Taking as his subject a simple lemon and surrounding it with associated and contrasting objects, Léger stripped down the elements to the bare essence of colour and form. His aim was for the plastic beauty of his art to 'provide the masses with a sort of aesthetic relief' (C. Lanchner, Fernand Léger (exhibition catalogue), New York, 1998, p. 225).

The sculptural boldness of form, line and colour, the latter of which Léger proclaimed in 1938 as 'a vital necessity ... [a] raw material indispensable to life, like water and fire' (ibid., p. 227), reflect the concepts of American sculptor Alexander Calder whom Léger had met in 1930, following which Léger wrote the introduction to an exhibition of Calder's sculptures in Paris. The shared principles are evident in each of the artist's work (fig. 1). By eliminating any sense of perspective, the flat forms in Léger's Nature morte au citron float in space, layered claustrophobically, neither shape permitted to be the primary focus of the composition. Léger's compositions demanded a revised set of laws to read a work of art, laws governed by instinct and visualisation in place of education and class.

Fig. 1, Alexander Calder, Untitled, 1962, painted metal mobile. To be sold in the Contemporary Art Evening Sale, 1st July 2008