Lot 120
  • 120

Fernand Léger

Estimate
300,000 - 400,000 GBP
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Description

  • Fernand Léger
  • LA FEUILLE ROUGE (COMPOSITION À L'ALGUE ROUGE)
  • signed F. Leger and dated 36 (lower right); signed F. Leger, titled and dated 36 on the reverse
  • oil on canvas
  • 45 by 65cm., 17 3/4 by 25 5/8 in.

Provenance

Galerie Louis Carré, Paris
Galleria Barbaroux, Milan
Dr. Riccardo Jucker, Milan
Sale: Finarte, Milan, 24th June 1980, lot 90
Purchased at the above sale by the present owner

Literature

Georges Bauquier, Fernand Léger. Catalogue raisonné de l'œuvre peint, 1932-1937, Paris, 1996, no. 886, illustrated p. 164

Condition

The canvas is not lined. There are a few pinhead-sized dots of retouching in the lower corners, visible under UV light. There are fine hairline cracks in the paint surface, mostly in the background and yellow pigments. Overall this work is in very good original condition.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Catalogue Note

During the late 1930s, Léger's work focused largely on international interior design projects, and his paintings from this period often incorporated the crisp imagery that he devised for these purposes. In 1937, he designed stage sets for the Paris Opéra, as well as decorations for the Trade Union Congress at the Vélodrome d'Hiver and the Transport des Forces for the Palais de la Découverte in Paris. Léger continued to work in this capacity in 1938, when he was commissioned to decorate the apartment of Nelson Rockefeller in New York. These various design projects brought forth a particular decorative flair in many of the artist's formal compositions on canvas, including the present work.

Léger's compositions executed around this time were populated with images of the natural world, such as butterflies, flowers and underwater plants. In La feuille rouge, the dominating form of the red leaf is combined with the more abstract forms to the right, all painted in strong, unmodulated colours, delineated in black and seeming to hover above a cool green background. According to Léger, these are the colours that express the reality of the medium of painting. Rather than imitating nature, the artist was interested in exploring the language of painting in its fullest and purest form, thus reducing his vocabulary to the elements of colour and form. As a result, Léger's composition defies a sense of gravity and transcends the earth-bound nature of a traditional landscape or still-life.