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.
Musée Cantini lithographic poster by Fernand Leger, 1966
By Fernand Léger
Located in New York, NY
This lithographic poster was printed in 1966 at the Atelier Mourlot in Paris to promote an exhibition of Leger's works at the Musée Cantini in Marseille in the summer of 1966. Leger ...
Lithograph
La Partie de Campagne, Original Lithograph, Modern, 1952, Excellent
By Fernand Léger
Located in OPOLE, PL
Fernand Léger (1881-1955) - La Partie de Campagne Lithograph from 1952. Dimensions of work: 52 x 35 cm Publisher: Tériade, Paris. On the verso another Lithographs in black. The ...
Lithograph
L'Eau, Original Lithograph, 1937, Plate Signed, Excellent
By Fernand Léger
Located in OPOLE, PL
Fernand Léger (1881-1955) - L'Eau Lithograph from 1937. Dimensions of work: 35 x 26 cm Publisher: Tériade, Paris. The work is in Excellent condition. Fast and secure shipment.
Lithograph
$1,350
H 30 in W 40.5 in
Home Run: abstract modern minimalist color field drawing with rainbow colors
By Gene Davis
Located in New York, NY
Rainbow shades shine in this abstract, color field print. Vibrant red, yellow, orange, purple, and green lines take on the organic quality of handmade paper, resulting in this subtle...
Lithograph
$1,299
H 39.5 in W 24.5 in
Air France Europe original vintage travel poster
By Jacques Nathan-Garamond 1
Located in Spokane, WA
Original AIR FRANCE EUROPE, Editions Perceval, artist: Jacques Nathan Garamond. Professional acid-free archival linen backed vintage travel post...
Lithograph
STELLA PEREGRINA
By Franz Marc
Located in Portland, ME
Marc, Franz (German, 1880-1916). STELLA PEREGRINA. FranzHanffstaengl, Munich, 1917. Only edition. Number 25 of the limited edition of 110. Folio (18 x 13 inches), parchment-bac...
Color
$1,376
H 23.04 in W 18.71 in D 0.04 in
André Lanskoy - Composition - Mourlot Lithographic Poster
By André Lanskoy
Located in Collonge Bellerive, Geneve, CH
André LANSKOY (1902-1976) Composition Lithographic poster Editor: Mourlot Dimensions: 58.5 x 47.5 cm André Lanskoy was one of the great painters o...
Lithograph
Chama Canyon hand pulled serigraph by William Hook
By William Hook
Located in Paonia, CO
Chama Canyon is a limited edition hand-pulled serigraph no. 225 /260 in excellent condition. It is signed in pencil and published by Aspen Mountain Graphics. sheet size 14 x 18 image 12 x 16 For American artist William Hook ( b. 1948- ) art was a central focus in his family home and he began his career in art at an early age.. He studied at several prestigious art schools in the US and abroad. His work has been featured in magazines such as Southwest Art, Art of the West, U. S. Art, American Artist and Focus Santa Fe. The book… Leading the West… by Donald Hagerty features William Hook as one of the most notable influences on the western art scene. Publishers Harper-Collins and North Light have included his work in numerous books written about the contemporary art process in Europe and America. Hook’s paintings can be found in the permanent collections of the Denver Art Museum, the Tucson Art Museum, the University of New Mexico, the FORBES Museum, NYC, and the Genesee Museum, NY as well as in many corporate and private collections. His work has also been featured in prints for the New Mexico Symphony, Music from Angel Fire...
Screen
Dusk in August
By Louise Nevelson
Located in Indianapolis, IN
Louise Nevelson (1899-1988) Dusk in August (1967) Lithograph with embossing Size: 17 x 22.25 in (43 x 56.4 cm) Frame size: 21.75 x 26.75 in (55.25 x 67.95 cm) Edition of 100, this i...
Lithograph
"Juges" from the suite "Les Fleurs du Mal""
By Georges Rouault
Located in San Francisco, CA
This artwork titled "Juges" from the suite "Les Fleurs du Mal" created in 1937/38, is an original color aquatint on Montval paper by renown French artist Georges Rouault, 1871-1958....
Aquatint
$3,500
H 21.25 in W 17.5 in D 1.5 in
"Laquais" from the suite "Les Fleurs du Mal"
By Georges Rouault
Located in San Francisco, CA
This artwork titled "Laquais" from the suite "Les Fleurs du Mal" created in 1937, is an original color aquatint on Montval paper by renown French artist Georges Rouault, 1871-1958. I...
Aquatint
The Preacher
By Willem de Kooning
Located in New York, NY
A very good impression of this scarce lithograph on Arches buff paper. Signed, dated and numbered 17/60 in pencil by de Kooning. Printed by Hollander's Workshop, Inc., New York. Co-p...
Lithograph
$2,100
H 33.5 in W 24.4 in
Welcome (Commissioned by Andy Warhol for Winter Olympics 1984, Sarajevo) Hodgkin
By Howard Hodgkin
Located in New York, NY
In 1983, Hodgkin was asked by Andy Warhol to contribute to the official art portfolio of the Olympic Winter games to be held in Sarajevo in 1984. He produced this striking print, wit...
Lithograph
$1,376
H 24.41 in W 24.41 in D 0.04 in
Geneviève Claisse - Kinetic Composition II - Original Signed Lithograph
By Geneviève Claisse
Located in Collonge Bellerive, Geneve, CH
Geneviève Claisse - Kinetic Composition II - Original Signed Lithograph Publisher Stamp Edition: EA Geneviève CLAISSE, born in 1935 in France, a relative to Auguste Herbin. She is recognized today as one of the most important geometrical abstract French artist of the 1970s. Her approach to painting was influenced by reading Art d’Aujourd’hui, Tribune of Geometrical Abstraction. 1958 First solo exhibits in the Galerie Caille in Cambrai and Galerie Hybler in Paris. 1961 First exhibit in the Galerie Denise René in Paris where she regularly exhibited in the following years. 1965 + Focused work on color (Cercles, ADN) 1967 Museum of Fine Arts of La Chaux-de-Fonds. Biennale of Paris. 1968 “Art...
Lithograph
$1,487
H 31.5 in W 24.02 in D 0.04 in
Geneviève Claisse - Kinetic Composition - Original Signed Lithograph
By Geneviève Claisse
Located in Collonge Bellerive, Geneve, CH
Geneviève Claisse - Kinetic Composition - Original Signed Lithograph Publisher Stamp Edition: EA Geneviève CLAISSE, born in 1935 in France, a relative to Auguste Herbin. She is recognized today as one of the most important geometrical abstract French artist of the 1970s. Her approach to painting was influenced by reading Art d’Aujourd’hui, Tribune of Geometrical Abstraction. 1958 First solo exhibits in the Galerie Caille in Cambrai and Galerie Hybler in Paris. 1961 First exhibit in the Galerie Denise René in Paris where she regularly exhibited in the following years. 1965 + Focused work on color (Cercles, ADN) 1967 Museum of Fine Arts of La Chaux-de-Fonds. Biennale of Paris. 1968 “Art...
Lithograph
Les Soldats - "La Ville" by Fernand Leger, 1959
By Fernand Léger
Located in New York, NY
This lithograph by Fernand Leger is from the portfolio entitled "La Ville" (The City) which consists of 29 lithographs featuring scenes of people, life and emotions of Paris. The art...
Lithograph
Musée Cantini by Fernand Leger lithographic poster
By Fernand Léger
Located in New York, NY
This lithographic poster was printed in 1966 at the Atelier Mourlot in Paris to promote an exhibition of Leger's works at the Musée Cantini in Marseille in the summer of 1966. Leger ...
Lithograph
Musée Cantini by Fernand Leger lithographic poster
By Fernand Léger
Located in New York, NY
This lithographic poster was printed in 1966 at the Atelier Mourlot in Paris to promote an exhibition of Leger's works at the Musée Cantini in Marseille in the summer of 1966. Leger ...
Lithograph
Fernand Léger - Flowers - Original Lithograph
By Fernand Léger
Located in Collonge Bellerive, Geneve, CH
Fernand Léger - Flowers - Original Lithograph Conditions: excellent 32 x 24 cm 1951 XXe siècle, San Lazzaro Joseph Fernand Henri Leger was born in 1881 in Argentan, France. He appre...
Lithograph
Fernand Leger Exhibition poster
By Fernand Léger
Located in Petworth, West Sussex
Fernand Leger Exhibition poster Musee Galliera, 1969 Unframed Fernand Leger (1881-1955) was an avant garde French artist and filmmaker known for his...