Lot 419
  • 419

Fernand Léger

Estimate
400,000 - 600,000 USD
bidding is closed

Description

  • Fernand Léger
  • Deux fruits et des fleurs jaunes
  • Signed F. Leger and dated 52 (lower right); signed F. Leger, dated 52 and titled (on the reverse)
  • Oil on canvas
  • 25 1/2 by 18 in.
  • 64.7 by 45.7 cm

Provenance

Elliot K. Wolk, New York (acquired in 1985)
Acquired from the above by the present owner in 1990

Exhibited

Tokyo, Fuji Television Gallery, Fernand Léger, 1972, no. 7, illustrated in color in the catalogue

Literature

Georges Bauquier, Irus Hansma & Claude Lefebvre du Preÿ, Fernand Léger, Catalogue raisonné de l'oeuvre peint, 1952-1953, Paris, 2013, no. 1487, illustrated in color p. 51

Condition

The canvas has not been relined. When examined under UV light, there is no evidence of retouching or restoration to the pigment. There is a horizontal line of indentation to the canvas in the background in the upper left quadrant (approx. 2.5 in. long) with associated craquelure. There is some minor surface dirt to the lower left and lower right edges. The 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.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Catalogue Note

Deux fruits et des fleurs jaunes exemplifies Léger's belief that line, color and form are the essential elements that govern a work of art. The artist explored the still life throughout his career, finding beauty and significance in simple, everyday objects.

Speaking at the Museum of Modern Art in 1935, Léger said: "It is, therefore, possible to assert the following: that color has a reality in itself, a life of its own; that geometric form has also a reality in itself, independent and plastic... There was never any question in plastic art, in poetry, in music, of representing anything. It is a matter of making something beautiful, moving, or dramatic—this is by no means the same thing... Commonplace objects, objects turned out in a series, are often more beautiful in proportion than many things called beautiful and given a badge of honor... My objective is to try and establish the following: no more cataloguing of beauty into hierarchies—that is the most clumsy mistake possible. Beauty is everywhere, in the arrangement of saucepans on the white wall of your kitchen, perhaps more there than in your eighteenth-century salon or in official museums..." (quoted in Picasso, Braque, Leger: Masterpieces from Swiss Collections (exhibition catalogue), Minnesota Institute of Arts, Minneapolis, 1975, pp. 65-66 & 69).