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Léger,
Fernand
(1881-1955)
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Fernand
Leger was a French painter, who influenced cubism, constructivism, and the
modern commercial poster and other types of applied art. Born in Argentan,
France, he served a two-year architecture apprenticeship in Caen, France,
and later studied unofficially under two professors at the École des
Beaux-Arts in Paris, France. Beginning in 1910 he was a prominent
exhibitor and member of the Salon des Indépendants. Most of his early
pictures were cubist in character, as in Nudes in the Forest
(1909-1910, Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo, Netherlands). Along with his
compatriot Georges Braque and the Spanish painter Pablo Picasso, Léger
played an important role in the development and spread of cubism.
Léger's
subsequent work was influenced by his experiences in World War I
(1914-1918). He began to use many symbols from the industrial world and
attempted to depict his objects and people in machine-like forms. Léger's
work had an important influence on the movements of neoplasticism in the
Netherlands and constructivism in the Soviet Union. He made highly
successful efforts as a glass painter, as a sculptor, and in creating
mosaics, ceramics, and tapestries. The modern commercial poster and other
types of applied art were also influenced by his original designs.
In
his later paintings, Léger separated color from his figures, which, while
they retained their robot like shapes, were painted in black lines. The
color was then boldly laid over areas of the canvas to form a separate
composition that tied the entire painting together. |
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