A painter as well as a filmmaker, illustrator, stage-set designer, ceramicist and printmaker, Fernand Léger was one of the most prolific artists of the first half of the 20th century. His early mature work as a Cubist was marked by the use of bold colors and contrasts and a visual vocabulary inspired by industrial technology. In his later career, Léger turned to idiomatic, almost naïve depictions of human figures, in a belief that his work should be accessible to ordinary people and relevant to their lives.
Born in Normandy, the son of a cattle trader, Léger worked as an architectural draftsman in Paris while studying art. By 1908 he was a member of an artistic circle that included Marc Chagall, Robert Delaunay, sculptor Jacques Lipchitz, and the poet Guillaume Appolinaire, and through them he became connected to the Cubists. As opposed to the flat planes and neutral hues seen in the paintings of Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, Léger’s Cubist abstractions were devised with vivid colors and forms that had dimensionality. Soon after his army service in World War I — he was gassed at the Battle of Verdun — Léger entered his “mechanical” period. Convinced that technology would improve the human condition, he painted compositions of tubular shapes and cylinders that are reminiscent of machine parts. In other work, Léger sought to capture the bustle and brio of modern life with references to railroad stations, factories, street signs and billboards.
Léger had also emerged from the trenches with a deep concern to make his art engage the sorts of men and women he had met during the war. He sought to bring his work to a wider audience through film, theater sets and book illustrations. In the 1920s, influenced by Purism — a variant on Cubism that promoted a simpler and more direct approach to forms and compositions — Léger produced a series of paintings depicting everyday objects: a soda siphon, an accordion, a guitar and vase. The human figure returned to his work. By 1930, pure abstraction disappeared almost completely from Léger’s art in favor of simple studies of people. Their boldly outlined forms, placed against a bright background, can be regarded as an assemblage of parts — yet in these representations of dancers, acrobats and folks on bicycles, Léger seems to be articulating a kind of kinship and affection. You will see from the works on offer why Fernand Léger is often regarded as the warmest and most humane of the great modern artists.
Find a collection of original Fernand Léger art today on 1stDibs.
$30,000
Le Toit
By Fernand Léger
Located in New York, NY
Gouache and watercolor on paper, 1950. Initialed by the artist "FL" and dated "50" lower right. Exhibition History: Blue Moon Gallery/Lerner-Heller Gallery, New York, "An intimate ...
Gouache, Watercolor
Price Upon Request
Statuette au Vase Jaune, painting by Fernand Leger c.1949
By Fernand Léger
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Fernand Leger, French (1881 - 1955) Title: Statuette au Vase Jaune Year: circa 1949 Medium: Gouache on Paper, dedicated (a Nicole) l.r. Size: 5 x 5 ...
Gouache
$7,500
H 12.13 in W 8 in
Basketball Player Gouache on Card Stock, American Modern, Circa 1940
By Ben Shahn
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Basketball Player Gouache on card stock, c. 1940 Signed by the artist in ink lower center A study for the fresco mural in the Social Security Buildin...
Gouache
$2,802
H 8.31 in W 12.33 in D 0.79 in
Rest at the Caravanserail - Gouache by Paul Pascal - 1885
By Paul Pascal
Located in Roma, IT
Rest at the caravanserail is an original old masters artwork realized by Paul Pascal in 1885. Mixed colored gouache on paper. Included an elegant frame. Hand signed by the artist ...
Gouache
$9,500
H 20 in W 22 in
House Beautiful Cover Proposal. American Scene Social Realism Industrial WPA
By Antonio Petruccelli
Located in New York, NY
House Beautiful Cover Proposal. American Scene Social Realism Industrial WPA Antonio Petruccelli (1907 – 1994) Mixing Mortar 12 1/2 X 14 3/4 inche...
Gouache, Board
$1,650
H 10.75 in W 24.75 in
Bird Abstraction Gouache Painting, Mid-Century Modern, Signed, 1953
Located in Myrtle Beach, SC
Stephen Harty, Untitled (Bird Abstraction), gouache, 1953. Signed and dated lower left. A fine, meticulously rendered, mid-century, modernist gouache painting, with fresh colors on 1...
Gouache
$7,000
H 26.25 in W 26 in D 1.5 in
Charles Ragland Bunnell 1939 WPA Man His Search for God Modernist Painting
By Charles Ragland Bunnell
Located in Denver, CO
This powerful 1939 WPA-era work by American modernist Charles Ragland Bunnell, titled Man in His Search for God, is a deeply expressive figurative painting that explores themes of sp...
Gouache
Glamorous Redhead Iconic Mid-Century Illustration
By Al Parker
Located in Miami, FL
Glamorous Redhead is a poster-like iconic image that sums up an era in American visual history - The 1950s. Al Parker is a giant in the history of American Illustration. He possess...
Gouache
$1,868
H 10.24 in W 11.82 in D 0.4 in
View of the Gulf of Naples, Gouache on Paper, 19th Century, Framed
Located in Roma, IT
Gouache on paper by Neapolitan School, mid-19th century. Not signed, very good condition. Includes a coeval wooden frame cm. 35x30.
Gouache
1950s "Rectangle" Mid Century Abstract Gouache Painting
Located in Arp, TX
Opper Estate Maroon Abstract c. 1940-1950's Gouache on Paper 15" x 18" Unframed From the estate of Ruth Friedmann Opper & Jerry Opper. Ruth was the daughter of Bauhaus artist, Gustav Friedmann. San Francisco Abstract Expression A free-spirited wave of creative energy swept through the San Francisco art community after World War II. Challenging accepted modes of painting, Abstract Expressionists produced highly experimental works that jolted the public out of its postwar complacency. Abstract Expressionism resulted from a broad collective impulse rather than the inspiration of a small band of New York artists. Documenting the interchanges between the East and West Coasts, she cites areas of mutual influence and shows the impact of San Francisco on the New York School, including artists such as Mark Rothko and Ad Reinhardt. San Francisco's Beat poets...
Paper, Gouache
$467
H 8.86 in W 13.59 in D 0.04 in
Sicilian Landscape with Aetna on the Background - Gouache - Early 20th Century
Located in Roma, IT
Sicilian Landscape with Aetna on the Background is an original Gouache on paper, realized by Anonymous Artist of the early 20th Century. In very go...
Gouache
$1,200
H 17.75 in W 24 in
Bold Color French Modernist Painting 1958 Signed Aldo Abstract Still Life
Located in Surfside, FL
Mid century modern art with inscription in french verso. It was traded with another artist.
Paper, Oil, Gouache
$6,500
H 21 in W 17 in D 2 in
Portrait of an Old Man with Cane, Important Chicago Modernist WPA Artist
By William S. Schwartz
Located in Surfside, FL
William Samuel Schwartz (American, 1896-1977) "Portrait of an Old Man with Cane" c. 1940 Gouache on board, 21" x 17" Hand signed lower left A beautiful painting of an old man sitti...
Gouache, Board
Indian Modernist Painting
Located in Surfside, FL
God, Keeper, and Maker of all Air Tola-Kina. Figural Abstract Gouache Watercolor Painting.
India Ink, Watercolor, Gouache
Sold
H 11.23 in W 18.12 in
Fernand Léger, Authentic Gouache on Paper, Nature morte aux pots, 1951
By Fernand Léger
Located in Paris, FR
Fernand Léger, Nature morte aux pots, 1951 – Original Gouache on Paper This vibrant gouache on paper by Fernand Léger (1881–1955) captures the artist’s signature modernist vocabular...
Paper, Gouache
Architectural Composition
By Fernand Léger
Located in Austin, TX
By Fernand Léger Medium: Mixed Media on Paper Size: 28" x 21" Framed Size: 39.25" x 32" An glorious example of a Master Cubist, Fernand Léger, featuring bold primaries and stately s...
Archival Paper, Gouache
Étude pour Gaz de France
By Fernand Léger
Located in London, GB
Sight size: 38.5 x 49 cm (15 ½ x 19 ⅛ inches) Sheet size: 52 x 76 cm (20 ½ x 29 ⅜ inches) Signed with the estate monogram stamp, F.L. This work is accompanied by a photo certif...
Gouache, Mixed Media, Paper