Fernand Leger
Fernand Léger [ leʒe ] (born February 4, 1881 in Argentan in Normandy , † August 17, 1955 in Gif-sur-Yvette near Paris ) was a French painter , sculptor , graphic artist , ceramist and film director . His early work is assigned to Cubism . In his works after the Second World War , his painterly style changed . From the 1920s onwards, he increasingly integrated figurative elements into his paintings. Léger's late work influenced American Pop Art painters , such as Roy Lichtenstein .
Life
After working as an architectural draftsman for several years (1897–1899 architecture apprenticeship in Caen ), Fernand Léger went to Paris ( Montparnasse district ) around 1900 . After his military service (1902–1903) he took courses at the École des Arts Décoratifs and the Académie Julian in Paris from 1903 to 1904 , but continued to work in an architecture office and as a retoucher of photographs. After Impressionist beginnings ( Le jardin de ma mère - My mother's garden , 1905), he joined the loosely organized so-called Puteaux group , which ideally can be found in the environment of Cubism ; Picasso and Georges Braque in particular influenced him from the Cubists themselves . He exhibited his work mainly in the Kahnweiler Gallery , named after Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler , an art dealer who "discovered" Fernand Léger personally (1910) and also to a large extent for the awareness and acceptance of Cubism itself (as an art movement) by various people Exhibitions, especially outside of France, contributed. In 1908 he opened a studio in the Parisian artist colony “ La Ruche ” - together with Henri Laurens , Marc Chagall , Guillaume Apollinaire and others.
After his war service 1914–1917 and his wounding - he almost died in a German mustard gas attack - his "période mécanique" (mechanical period) began, inspired by the war machine; Among other things, he made the experimental film Le ballet mécanique (The mechanical ballet) in 1924 . Léger stayed in the United States during World War II and did not return to Paris until 1945. In addition to numerous paintings, he also created monumental art. He was active in decorating the UN building in New York , and he made mosaics and glass windows in the churches of Passy ( Haute-Savoie ) and Audincourt ( Doubs ) .
According to Niklas Maak , Léger also admitted to having painted “twenty-five false corots ” in order to earn money .
On the Biennial of São Paulo , he received early in 1955 the painter price. Soon afterwards he died in his newly furnished studio in Gif-sur-Yvette near Paris.
Some of his works were shown posthumously at documenta 1 (1955), documenta II (1959) and documenta III in 1964 in Kassel .
Works (selection)
- 1909/10: Nudes in the forest (Nus dans la forêt) , Musée National d'Art Moderne in the Center Georges Pompidou , Paris
- 1911: The wedding (la noce) , Musée du Luxembourg
- 1912: Woman in Blue , Public Art Collection, Basel
- 1912/13: Village landscape , Österreichische Galerie Belvedere , Vienna, oil on canvas, 91 × 81 cm
- 1913: Contrasting shapes (Contraste de formes) , Musée National d'Art Moderne
- 1921: The three women and the still life , Fondation Beyeler , Basel, oil on canvas, 60 × 91.5 cm
- 1924: Ballet mécanique
- 1929: Dancer , Hilti Art Foundation, Schaan, oil on canvas, 92 × 73 cm
- 1930: Mona Lisa with keys (La Joconde aux clefs)
- 1932: Apple tree root , graphic collection of the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart , gouache
- 1953: Juggler and two trapeze artists (Le Jongleur et les deux trapézistes) , private property
- 1954: Stained glass window in Courfaivre church
Student (selection)
- Haşmet Akal
- Olle Bærtling
- Erwin Bechtold
- Louise Bourgeois
- Heinrich Hussmann
- Walter Klose
- Hanns pastor
- Kazimierz Ostrowski
Exhibitions
- 2019: Fernand Léger and Modern Life, Institut Valencià d'Art Modern (IVAM) , Valencia, Spain
- 2018: Fernand Léger - Beauty is everywhere , Palais des Beaux-Arts de Bruxelles (Bozar)
- 2017: Fernand Léger: Le Beau est partout , Center Pompidou-Metz , Metz
- 2016: Fernand Léger. Painting in space , Museum Ludwig , Cologne (curator Katia Baudin)
- 2014: Une œuvre invitée: Fernand Léger - La Partie de campagne. , Musée National Fernand Léger , Biot (Alpes-Maritimes) .
- 2012: Léger - Laurens. Tete-a-tete. Museum Frieder Burda , Baden-Baden.
- 2005: Max Beckmann - Fernand Léger. Unexpected encounters. Museum Ludwig , Cologne
- 1994: Fernand Léger: The Rhythm of Modern Life , Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg , then Kunstmuseum Basel
Web links
- Literature by and about Fernand Léger in the catalog of the German National Library
- Works by and about Fernand Léger in the German Digital Library
- Musée national Fernand Léger, Chemin du Val de Pome, 06410 Biot
- Graphics and numerous links to works by Léger
- Biography, works and literature
- Materials by and about Fernand Léger in the documenta archive
- Pictures by Fernand Léger in the Fondation Beyeler in Riehen, Switzerland
Individual evidence
- ^ Philippe Büttner: Encounters in Pictures. Fernand Léger and the Americans of the Pop Art generation . In: Fondation Beyeler (Ed.): Fernand Léger. Paris - New York. Fondation Beyeler, Riehen / Basel, June 1 - September 7, 2008 . Hatje Cantz, Ostfildern 2008, ISBN 978-3-7757-2160-8 , p. 13-23 .
- ↑ Niklas Maak : Everything is really nice - but unfortunately not real In: FAZ from September 16, 2010.
- ↑ Glass window, pp. 467–469
- ↑ Fernand Léger. Le Beau est partout | Center Pompidou Metz. Retrieved September 11, 2017 (French).
- ↑ Léger - Laurens. Tête-à-Tête - Museum Frieder Burda, Baden-Baden.
personal data | |
---|---|
SURNAME | Léger, Fernand |
ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Léger, Jules Fernand Henri |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | French painter and art forger, sculptor, graphic artist, ceramist and film director |
DATE OF BIRTH | February 4, 1881 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Argentan , Normandy |
DATE OF DEATH | 17th August 1955 |
Place of death | Gif-sur-Yvette |