Fernand Léger

Galerie Bourdon, Paris
André Philippe Collection, Belfort (acquired from the above in the 1960s)
By descent to the present owner

Claude Laugier & Michèle Richet, Léger. Œuvres de Fernand Léger (1881-1955), Collections du musée national d’art moderne, Paris, 1981, illustrated p. 116 (under the title Hommage à l'aviation, incorrect dimensions)
Françoise Lucbert, Avion, Aviateur, Aviation. Cent ans de fascination (1908-2008) (exhibition catalogue), Le Mans, 2008, p. 36 (under the title Hommage à l’aviation)

The canvas is not lined. There is some very minor frame abrasion along the edges. UV light reveals some small spots of retouching in the yellow pigment in the upper left corner and a tiny spot towards the bottom of the blue shape, 5cm from the left edge. Otherwise this work is in very good condition.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

In 1938 the Ministry of National Education asked Fernand Léger to create a fresco paying homage to French aviation, destined to adorn the mess of the Centre d’Aviation Populaire in Briey, near Nancy, constructed by the architects Jacques Ogé and Jean Prouvé. The commission came after several large mural projects that Léger had already completed for the French state (for instance the French Pavillion for the Universal Exhibition in Brussels in 1935 and a panel for the Palais de la Découverte in 1937). The beginning of the war in 1939 and the destruction of the building in 1944 brought an end to this project. With the reconstruction of the centre after the war, Léger restarted work but the fresco never saw the light of day and the contract was cancelled.

From this commission initiated by Georges Huisman, then Minister of Fine Arts, there remains a watercolour housed in the Centre Pompidou, Projet décoratif pour un centre d’aviation populaire, dated 1940 and this painting; Fernand Léger, as was his custom, also completed a second version (titled Avion dans le ciel) in a larger format (58 x 90 cm), dated 1939-52 and today housed in the Musée Fernand Léger in Biot. The style of the inscription on the reverse of the present painting is identical to the inscription on the reverse of the painting at the Musée Biot and the number 223 on the original stretcher of the picture refers to a draft document housed in the same museum.

All the works from this series include the tricolored badge, the insignia of French aviation, a motif Léger had already used in the drawings he executed during the First World War to symbolise aeroplanes that had been demolished from the front. Painted between two trips to the United States (in 1938, he decorated Nelson Rockefeller Junior’s apartment in New York and in 1940 he left France for Yale), L’Avion dans les nuages depicts the insignia emerging from between stylised organic forms and clouds. The picture is characteristic of the period of “early large compositions” (see J. Cassou et J. Leymarie, Fernand Léger : dessins et gouaches, Paris, 1972), in which Léger favoured synthetic shapes and primary colours in order to heighten the visual impact for the viewer. The tremendous luminosity of the yellow background contributes to the power of this composition that incited Jean Cassou and Jean Leymarie to describe this series of works as a “powerfully dynamic project” (op. cit.).