Untitled

Artist Fernand Léger (French, 1881–1955)

Date1940

MediumPencil and gouache on paper

DimensionsImage: 9 1/4 × 6 5/8 inches (23.5 × 16.8 cm);
Frame: 20 3/4 × 17 × 3/8 inches (52.7 × 43.2 × 1 cm)

ClassificationsPaintings

Credit LineAnonymous gift

Terms

Paintings
pencil and gouache
Paper
French

Object number74.098.007

Label CopyAlthough Léger is best known for his association with cubism, his style was extremely diverse moving between abstraction and figuration with an emphasis on primary colors and bold geometric forms. This drawing was made after he moved to the United States to escape World War II, and where he lived until 1945 and had a strong impact on New York School painters. The Johnson owns two oil paintings and more than seventy drawings, watercolors, and prints by Léger, including several sketches for his Consolidated Edison Company Pavilion mural at the 1939 New York World’s Fair and gouache designs for the interior of Nelson Rockefeller’s New York apartment. (“Highlights from the Collection: 45 Years at the Johnson," curated by Stephanie Wiles and presented at the Johnson Museum January 27–July 22, 2018)

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