Fernand Léger

Galerie Bourdon, Paris
Private Collection, Paris (acquired from the above circa 1950-55)
Private Collection, London (by descent from the above)
Sakai Gallery, Toyko
Acquired from the above
 

Georges Bauquier, Fernand Léger: Catalogue raisonné, 1938-1943, Paris, 1998, no. 1017, illustrated in color p. 73

This work is in good condition. The canvas is unlined. The surface is clean overall and the colors are bright and fresh. The impasto is lively. There is a slight buckling to the canvas in two places at the upper right edge and at the lower right edge. There is some paint shrinkage in the ochre pigment at the upper right. Under UV light: there are strokes of inpainting about 2 inches long in the white oval form in the middle left quadrant. In the white rectangular form at upper left there are some broad strokes of inapinting along the perimeter of the form. There are several small strokes in the center middle white form. There are further a few smaller strokes in the white pigment at lower right as well as a few possible instances around the perimeter of the canvas, presumably to address old frame abrasion.
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.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

In the present work, Léger focuses on the pictorial elements of color and form, with the titular subjects delineated in strong, black lines and abstracted to mechanized versions of their natural shapes. Compositional elements are bound together in a flattened but spatially ambiguous plane, with objects and ground merging into a single, unified space. Léger would later employ this means of enmeshing objects with ground to guide the composition of his relief sculptures in bronze and painted ceramic. According to Léger, it is the primary colors, combined with black and white that express the reality of the medium of painting. Rather than imitating nature, the artist was interested in exploring the language of painting in its fullest and purest form, thus reducing his vocabulary to the essential pictorial elements. "Color is a human need like water and fire," he explained in 1946. "It is a raw material indispensable to life. In every period of his existence and history, man has associated it with his joys, his acts, and pleasures" (quoted in E.F. Fry, ed., Fernand Léger, Functions of Painting, New York, 1973, p. 149).