His uniquie take on Cubism that relied heavily on cylindrical forms made Léger one of the best-known abstract painters of his time. So it could be enjoyed as a certain scene without it being read. Under the influence of his new environment, he abandoned those styles for a more Cubist approach. After military service in Versailles, Yvelines, in 1902–1903, he enrolled at the School of Decorative Arts after his application to the École des Beaux-Artswas rejected. Il sera, trois ans plus tard, refusé à l’Ecole des Beaux-Arts, mais admis à l’Ecole des Arts décoratifs. Fernand Léger Né le : 04/02/1881 Décédé le : 17/08/1955. À dix-neuf ans, après une enfance à Argentan et des études d'architecture à Caen, il découvre le Paris de 1900. This biography of Fernand Léger provides detailed information about his childhood, life, achievements, works & timeline. Léger's wife died in 1950, and in 1952 he re-married a lady called Nadia Khodossevitch. He temporarily relocated to New York City in the United States of America to escape the arrival of World War II in 1940. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Fernand-Leger, The Art Story - Biography of Fernand Léger, Fernand Léger - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up). Léger's style during these years, beginning actually in the late 1930s, shifted again. In his early works he created a personal form of cubism (known as "tubism") which he gradually modified into a more figurative, populist style. Updates? Fernand Léger - photo Carl Van Vechten Fernand Léger, peintre français, naît le 4 février 1881 à Argentan. Between 1940 and 1946 Léger lived in the United States. Léger's early art from this period showed an influence from Impressionism, though around 1907 the artist Paul Cézanne of the Salon d'Automne seemed to change the direction of how Léger painted from that point onward. Léger had not lost his interest in everyday people, but it is seen as a response to a much more culturally wider interest in past art forms. Dessinateur au sein d’un cabinet d’architecture, il est admis en 1903 à l’École des Arts Décoratifs de Paris, en parallèle, il fréquente l’Académie Julian et le Louvre. Crédit Photo Léger married Jeanne-Augustine Lohy in 1920. Quelques notes de biographie. Fernand (Joseph Henri) Leger (1881 - 1955) was active/lived in Connecticut, California / France. 1913 was to be a banner year for Léger as this was the year in which he realised how to become his own, unique style of artist, rather than follow in the footsteps of Braque or Picasso. After military service in Versailles, Yvelines, in 1902–1903, he enrolled at the School of Decorative Arts after his application to the École des Beaux-Arts was rejected. 1876-1958 EARLY INFLUENCES Fernand Léger was born into a peasant family in Normandy, apprenticed to an architect, and then went to Paris in 1900 to study painting. Il a vécu sous la Troisième République assistant à la succession à la présidence de 14 chefs d’état. After finishing his military training in 1903, he studied in Paris at the Ecole des Arts Décoratifs and Académi… Through the poets, in particular, Léger gained a connection with the Cubist movement; many of them were close friends with Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, the painters who had created Cubism in 1907. Léger was born into a peasant family in a small town in Normandy. Find an in-depth biography, exhibitions, original artworks for sale, the latest news, and sold auction prices. He developed “machine art,” a style characterized by monumental mechanistic forms rendered in bold colours. From then on, his art was essentially figurative, and the only significant change in his style occurred late in his career, during World War II, when he began to draw his figures in gray and black and to use bands of colour as abstract background elements. © www.fernandleger.org 2020. Fernand Léger, (born February 4, 1881, Argentan, France—died August 17, 1955, Gif-sur-Yvette), French painter who was deeply influenced by modern industrial technology and Cubism. du chêne. This belief of Léger's that art could systematically unify people may have led to community-based art forms and activism movements just like Fluxus. Fernand Leger is known for Cubist painting-objects, machinery and figures, teaching. ", During this period he produced a series of work named the "Divers," they were well-known for their unique overlapping outlines and portraying figures of swimmers that were diving off the docks in Marseille. Rien ne prédestinait Fernand Léger, fils d’un éleveur de bœufs normand, à devenir une figure marquante de l’avant-garde parisienne. Joseph Fernand Henri Léger (French: [leʒe]; February 4, 1881 – August 17, 1955) was a French painter, sculptor, and filmmaker. Find the latest shows, biography, and artworks for sale by Fernand Léger. He nevertheless attended the Beaux-Arts as a non-enrolled student, spe… It was during his time in the military that he sketched pieces of artillery, aeroplanes and other soldiers in the trenches. In 1903 he enrolled in the Paris School of Decorative Arts; although he failed to get into the École des Beaux-Arts, he also began to study under two of its professors as an unofficial pupil. Fernand Léger. Though he had met and become acquainted with other fellow artists like Pablo Picasso, Henri Rousseau, and Georges Braque, some of his closest friendships were with writers Blaise Cendrars and Guilleume. Biographie de Fernand Léger. Léger was born in Argentan, Orne, Lower Normandy, where his father raised cattle. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. Dit « pionnier du cubisme », « paysan de l'avant-garde » ou « cubiste », il était l'un des premiers à montrer publiquement des travaux d'orientation cubiste, même s'il n'était pas lui-même un peintre cubiste - il avait trouvé son propre style. In 1909 he produced The Seamstress, in which he reduced his colours to a combination of blue-gray and buff and rendered the human body as a mass of slabs and cylinders that resembled a robot. BIOGRAPHIE Pour un art humaniste. In 1911 the Salon des Indépendants exhibited Léger's early paintings that would lead to him being recognised as a Cubist artist, mostly his painting titled Nudes in the Forest. Léger and Le Corbusier remained close friends for the rest of their lives. Léger was born into a peasant family in a small town in Normandy. Biographie Fernand Léger. Léger began his career as a an artist by serving an apprenticeship in architecture in Caen and working as a architectural draughtsman. Biography of Fernand Léger “I was stunned by the sight of the breech of a 75 millimeter in the sunlight. Ses origines normandes, son aspect de « brute au physique désavantageux », qu’il attribue à un père éleveur et son franc-parler, ont souvent fait passer Fernand Léger pour le « paysan de l’avant-garde ». 1979 askART artist summary of Fernand Leger. Léger n’y accomplira jamais la formation d’architectequ’il est venu y poursuivre. 22 mars 2011 Peintre, sculpteur, décorateur, Fernand Léger (1881-1955), admirateur de Cézanne, est considéré comme l'un des pionniers du cubisme auquel il apportera une touche personnelle par l'atmosphère de monde déshumanisé qui se dégage de son œuvre. Fernand Leger : biographie Patrick Krémer. These paintings during this period include "Adam and Eve", "Mona Lisa with Keys," and "The Mechanic," as well as many others. Avec une carrière de plus de 50 ans, Fernand Léger (français, né le 4 février 1881 à Argentan – mort le 17 août 1955 à Gif-sur-Yvette) travaille une multitude de supports, comme la peinture, la céramique, la gravure, les fresques à grande échelle, les films, le théâtre, la danse, le verre, l’édition. 1968 - "Léger" de René Deroudille, Ed. Skira. He traveled extensively, responding enthusiastically to the American landscape, particularly to its vast urban complexes, and taught briefly. He regarded this work as “the first picture in which I deliberately took my subject from our own epoch.”. De la tentation de l’abstraction à la guerre - Le Réveille-matin, 1914 - Soldats jouant aux cartes, 1916. Nadia Léger, née Nadia Khodossievitch en 1904 à Ossetishchi (région de Vitebsk) en Biélorussie et morte en 1982 à Grasse, est une peintre d'origine biélorusse, épouse de Fernand Léger. Fernand Léger initially trained as an architect from 1897 to 1899, before moving in 1900 to Paris, where he supported himself as an architectural draftsman. By signing up for this email, you are agreeing to news, offers, and information from Encyclopaedia Britannica. Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. Joseph Fernand Henri Léger est né en 1881 à Argentan (Orne). While he made use of primary and secondary colours in combination with his own unique idea that everyone can reflect and understand art. In the mid-1920s Léger was associated with the French formalist movement called Purism, which had been launched by the painter Amédée Ozenfant and the painter-architect Le Corbusier. He served a two-year apprenticeship in an architect’s office at Caen, and in 1900 he went to work in Paris, first as an architectural draftsman and later as a retoucher of photographs. At Biot, in southern France, a museum is devoted to his work. Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. Fernand Léger est né le 4 février 1881 à Argentan et mort le 17 août 1955 à Gif-sur-Yvette. Il naît à Argentan le 4 février 1881. Fernand Léger s’installe à Paris en 1900. Léger was sent to Caen to work alongside an architect where he trained as an apprentice from 1897 to 1899. Purism was an attempt to strip Cubism of its decorative aspects; Léger consequently adopted flatter colours and bold, black outlines in his work. Fernand Léger was born in rural Normandy on February 4, 1881 and raised by his family to take up a valuable trade, like his father who was a cattle dealer. Léger had been painting in a style that mixed Impressionism with Fauvism. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. It still feels very much like his style with its mechanical figures and primary colours. Après cette introduction, je vous propose de parler de sa vie à travers sa biographie. Fernand Léger initially trained as an architect from 1897 to 1899, before moving in 1900 to Paris, where he supported himself as an architectural draftsman. Léger was perhaps the first painter to take the imagery of … He is popularly known for starting a series of abstract paintings titled ‘Contrast of Forms.’ At a very young age, Leger wanted to become an architect even though he … His uniquie take on Cubism that relied heavily on cylindrical forms made Léger one of the best-known abstract painters of his time. During the last years of his life, his major paintings were The Constructors (1950) and The Great Parade (1954). The Card Party marked the beginning of Léger’s transition into what has been called his mechanical period, which was characterized by a fascination with motors, gears, bearings, furnaces, railway crossings, and factory interiors. Corrections? While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Léger carried on exhibiting his various paintings until in 1914 when he was called into military service. View Fernand Léger’s 8,489 artworks on artnet. These paintings each examined the ways in which basic colours, primary and secondary, could be together intermingled with black and white to make the canvas like music. During the late 1920's Léger branched out to other forms of creative expression. Ring in the new year with a Britannica Membership.