- 133
FERNAND LÉGER | Nature morte au papillon
Estimate
150,000 - 200,000 USD
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Description
- Fernand Léger
- Nature morte au papillon
- Signed F.Léger and dated 47 (lower right)
- Oil on canvas
- 18 1/8 by 15 in.
- 46 by 38 cm
- Painted in 1947.
Provenance
Sale: Hôtel Drouot, Paris, March 18, 1986, lot 67
Nisenbaum Collection
Private Collection, Switzerland (and sold: Sotheby's, London, April 1, 1987, lot 216)
Acquired at the above sale
Nisenbaum Collection
Private Collection, Switzerland (and sold: Sotheby's, London, April 1, 1987, lot 216)
Acquired at the above sale
Literature
Georges Bauquier, Fernand Léger, Catalogue raisonné de l'oeuvre peint 1944-1948, Paris, 2000, no. 1282, illustrated in color p. 197
Condition
Please contact the Impressionist & Modern Art department directly at (212) 606-7360 for a condition report for this lot.
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.
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
Painted shortly after Léger's return to Paris from his wartime sojourn in New York, Nature morte au papillon encapsulates Léger's emphasis on the key role of pure color in his paintings. The composition and subject recall Léger's output from the late 1930s, the last time when he was permanently settled in Paris, during which he painted a number of still lifes using images of the natural world, such as butterflies, flowers and underwater plants.
The sharply outlined geometric forms provide contrast to the wide sweeps of color, suggesting a sense of movement throughout the composition. Rather than depict a narrative or imitating nature, Léger was concerned with the primacy of painting and explored his visual language in its fullest and purest form, namely the elements of color and form. In 1950, Léger wrote: "The plastic life, the picture, is made up of harmonious relationships among volumes, lines and colors. These are the three forces that must govern works of art. If, in organizing these three elements harmoniously, one finds that objects, elements of reality, can enter into the composition, it may be better and may give the work more richness" (quoted in Carolyn Lanchner, Fernand Léger, New York, 1998, p. 247).
The sharply outlined geometric forms provide contrast to the wide sweeps of color, suggesting a sense of movement throughout the composition. Rather than depict a narrative or imitating nature, Léger was concerned with the primacy of painting and explored his visual language in its fullest and purest form, namely the elements of color and form. In 1950, Léger wrote: "The plastic life, the picture, is made up of harmonious relationships among volumes, lines and colors. These are the three forces that must govern works of art. If, in organizing these three elements harmoniously, one finds that objects, elements of reality, can enter into the composition, it may be better and may give the work more richness" (quoted in Carolyn Lanchner, Fernand Léger, New York, 1998, p. 247).