Lithography. A pencil drawing by the hand of the French artist Fernand Leger.

Lithography. A pencil drawing by the hand of the French artist Fernand Leger.
France. Museum of Fernand Leger, 1952-1955. 4 p. (1 l. folded in half). Large format (30.5 x 25 cm). Traces of existence; corners are jammed.

[Joseph Fernand Henri Léger (fr.Joseph Fernand Henri Léger; 1881-1955) - French painter, master of decorative art, representative of Cubism, Leger perceived Cubists exclusively through the prism of his own worldview; he was very far from imitating. In fact, he was not interested in the volumes themselves, but in revealing their inner essence. Leger had his own style of writing-clear and mechanical, devoid of psychologism, where a person was very conventional against the background of the achievements of civilization.

Initially, Leger presented his work as a monumental art associated with architecture and filling the everyday life of people. His first works were written in the cubic style, but the technique of execution differs from the works of cubist artists. The figures on his canvases are geometrized, but not divided into components. With the help of painted objects, he tries to convey the feeling of the surrounding space in motion. The color palette dominated by the color gray.

Leger perceived the Cubists exclusively through the prism of his own worldview; he was very far from imitating them. In fact, he was not interested in the volumes themselves, but in revealing their inner essence. The same was true of color, which he partly adopted from the French Impressionists. In the future, his works became bright, contrasting, and the artist also achieved clean and local tones, where red was very red, blue-very blue.

Sometimes, to create his compositions, Leger used an original technique. He created the background by applying oil paints or gouache to the canvas, and then began working on compositions that were often made up of disparate elements. Thus, many heroes were included in the work gradually. In his old age, Leger repeatedly expressed dissatisfaction with the created images: "With age, the horizons expand, knowledge is replenished. Now I strive for diversity in faces. I find my figures too uniform and expressionless."

On August 17, 1955, Fernand Leger died, and thanks to the efforts of his family and friends, the ensemble of the Leger Memorial Museum in Biot was created.]