Léger, Fernand (fĕrnäN` lāzhā`), 1881–1955, French painter. Léger first studied architecture, then he began to paint, studying briefly at the École des Beaux-Arts. He became known for his cubist paintings in 1910, and a modified cubism is apparent in much of his subsequent work. In works such as The City (1919; Phila. Mus. of Art), Léger celebrated the machine in a naive, energetic style characterized by flat tones of pure color, black, white, and gray. He taught painting in Paris and New York City. Two of his mural designs were executed by a pupil at the United Nations, New York. Several of his paintings are in the Museum of Modern Art, New York City.

Bibliography

See studies by K. Kuh (1953), R. L. Delevoy (tr. 1962), and J. Casson and J. Leymarie (1974).

Léger, Fernand

Fernand Léger, photograph by Arnold Newman, 1941.

(born Feb. 4, 1881, Argentan, Fr.—died Aug. 17, 1955, Gif-sur-Yvette) French painter. Born to a peasant family, he worked as an architectural draftsman in Paris before studying art. Influenced by Paul Cézanne and early Cubism, Léger developed a painting style that combined bold colours with geometric and cylindrical forms arranged in highly disciplined compositions. His best-known works celebrated modern industrial technology by emphasizing shapes derived from machine parts. Though he was seriously injured in World War I, his art continued to affirm his faith in modern life and popular culture. In 1924 he conceived and directed Ballet mécanique, a nonnarrative film with photography by Man Ray.