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
$6,000
H 24 in W 20 in D 2 in
Abstract Work on Paper Mid-Century Modernism Greek American Gouache Drawing
By Jean Xceron
Located in New York, NY
Abstract Work on Paper Mid-Century Modernism Greek American Gouache Drawing. A modernist artist who emigrated to America from Greece in 1904, when he was fourteen years old, Jean Xceron is described as having a reputation as an artist that has mysteriously fallen into obscurity---especially since he was reportedly quite prominent during his lifetime. However, a partial explanation of that omission is the fact that many of his papers and early records have been lost. He was a painter of biomorphic abstractions and did collages, which were influenced by Dadaism. Xceron was active in New York City when modernism was gaining influence. Of him during this period, it was written that his artistic role was "a vital link between what is commonly termed as the first-generation (the Stieglitz group, the Synchromists, etc.) and second-generation, the American Abstract Artists, the Transcendental Painting...
Paper, Gouache
Abstract Landscape with Palm Tree Judaica Gouache Painting
By Mane Katz
Located in Surfside, FL
Mane-Katz (1894-1962) Landscape with palm tree. Gouache on paper, signed lower right. Dimensions: (Frame) H 37.5" x W 31", (Sight) H 24.5" x W 18" Emmanuel Mané-Katz (Hebrew:מאנה כ...
Gouache
$130,000
H 21.25 in W 29.25 in
Oignons Croises Original Gouache Painting by Alexander Calder
By Alexander Calder
Located in Palm Beach, FL
Gouache and ink on paper; Signed "Calder 65" Calder Foundation Registration #A11309 Provenance: Galerie Maeght, Paris 1965; J.L. Hudson Co., Detroit, 1969; Private collection, IL 19...
Gouache
$1,200
H 17.75 in W 14.75 in
1950s "Eve" American Modern MidCentury Figurative Gouache & Oil Pastel
By Donald Stacy
Located in Arp, TX
Donald Stacy "Eve" c.1950s Gouache and oil pastel on paper 14x17" black wood frame 14.75"x17.75" Unsigned, Eve written in paint along right margin Came from artist's estate Donald S...
Paper, Gouache, Oil Pastel
$1,800
H 22.5 in W 30 in
1950s "Purple Sky Landscape" Mid Century Abstract Landscape Painting
By Donald Stacy
Located in Arp, TX
Bearnice Fisher "Purple Sky Landscape" 1978 Gouache on paper 30" x 22.5" unframed Signed and dated lower right in pencil Bearnice Fisher lived and worked in NYC
Paper, Gouache
King of Swords by Salvador Dalí
By Salvador Dalí
Located in New Orleans, LA
Salvador Dalí 1904-1989 Spanish King of Swords Signed “Dalí” (lower center) Gouache on photographic background This unique gouache by Surrealist master Salvador Dalí combines the...
Gouache, Photographic Paper
$1,200
H 23 in W 18 in
Chicago Modernist Gouache Painting Shabbat Hebrew Calligraphy WPA Artist Judaica
By Alexander Raymond Katz
Located in Surfside, FL
A Judaica painting with Hebrew Calligraphy by noted Chicago Modernist. Alexander Raymond Katz (his Hungarian first name, Sandor, was anglicized to Alexander) was born in Kassa, Hunga...
Gouache
$95,000
H 39.5 in W 59.5 in
Phenomena Royal House, Abstract Gouache on Paper, Late 20th Century
By Paul Jenkins
Located in New York, NY
Paul Jenkins American, 1923–2012 Paul Jenkins’s intuitive, chance-based painting techniques helped pioneer new approaches to Abstract Expressionism. Jenkins made his vibrant composi...
Paper, Gouache
Harbor Party, Modern Gouache by John von Wicht
By John von Wicht
Located in Long Island City, NY
Harbor Party by John von Wicht, German (1888–1970) Date: circa 1965 Gouache and Pastel on Japon, signed in pencil lower right Size: 15.5 x 23 in. (39.37 x 58.42 cm) Frame Size: 22 x ...
Gouache, Oil Pastel
$1,800
H 30 in W 22.5 in
Large Hudson River Figurative Modernist Landscape Oil Painting Edward Avedisian
By Edward Avedisian
Located in Surfside, FL
Edward Avedisian ( 1936-2007 ) Gouache or oil on paper, 3 guys around a car, hand signed in paint lower left, Measures 30"x 22.5" Edward Avedisian (June 15, 1936, Lowell, Massac...
Oil, Gouache, Archival Paper
$15,000
H 17.5 in W 15 in D 2 in
Ceri Richards - Lyre Bird (Design for cover of Poetry London), 1943 mixed media
Located in New York, NY
Ceri Richards Lyre Bird (Design for the cover of Poetry London), 1943 Ink, gouache and pastel on paper Bears original Jonathan Clark & Co. label on the back of the frame Unique Fram...
Oil Pastel, Ink, Gouache, Mixed Media
$2,200
H 19.75 in W 25.75 in
Romanian Modernist Gouache Painting Of Buildings And Boats - Jean David
By Jean David
Located in Surfside, FL
Jean David was a painter and designer, known for his contributions to the Romanian avant-garde and to the early modernist art of Israel (then recently founded). He was the first Israeli artist to be inducted into the illustrious Alliance Graphique Nationale in 1954. He had studied between 1927 and 1937 at various art academies in Paris. In 1929 he participated for the first time at a collective exhibition in Bucharest and in 1933 he had his first personal exhibition (in the same city). In the early '30s he was a member of the Surrealist group "unu" (meaning "one"). In 1942, he left Romania in a boat with 12 other Jews, including Theodor Brauner, the brother of Victor Brauner. After being captured by British authorities in Cyprus, he managed to reach Palestine in 1944. In 1949 he went to live in Jerusalem, where he was active in developing ceramic arts, sculpture works in copper, and artistic tapestry wall hangings under the auspices of the Ministry of Trade and Industry. Together with Marcel Janco, he founded in Israel the artist village known as Ein Hod. He also gained much reputation as a muralist and graphic and poster designer, having designed numerous posters and other works for the El Al air company, Maccabiah games, Zim shipping and The Israel tourist industry. David’s primary importance was in the design of posters. He used a wildly colorful decorative style in his art, which combined illustration, caricature, and national figures. In addition he designed wall hangings for “Maskit,” and also worked in the decoration of public buildings. His paintings had elements of Surrealism and included images from nature and landscapes. Similar in style to David Klein and the Polish Cyrk posters. Forms From Israel, Mounting Exhibition, USA, 1958 Artists: El Hanani (Sapozhnikow), Arie Azaz, Nehemiah Boris Carmi, Hanna Harag Zunz, David, Jean David Gumbel, Keiner Forcheimer, Julia Mansfeld, Al Merom, Peter Mayer, Jean Palombo...
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