Fernand Léger with His Artwork (Fernand Léger dans ses oeuvres)
Artist
Robert Doisneau
(French, 1912–1994)
Date1954, printed 1984
MediumGelatin silver print
Dimensionssheet: 50.7 x 40.2 cm (19 15/16 x 15 13/16 in.)
image: 36.2 x 32.3 cm (14 1/4 x 12 11/16 in.)
image: 36.2 x 32.3 cm (14 1/4 x 12 11/16 in.)
ClassificationsPhotographs
Credit LineWilliam Grimm Fund
Object number2011.405.9
Label TextLéger (1881–1955) developed his early style from Cubist-derived abstraction. World War I and Italian Futurism led him to darker, ‘mechanical’ imagery in the 1920s. His simplified geometric designs in black and white were accented with primary hues.
Léger joined the Communist Party after World War II, and his work began representing the figures of acrobats, builders, and a contented middle-class. “The object in modern painting must become the main character,” Léger wrote in 1945. “If the human form becomes an object, it can considerably liberate possibilities for the modern artist.”
ProvenanceG.W. Einstein Company, Inc., New York, NYOn View
Not on view
Robert Doisneau
1951, printed 1984
