After Fernand Léger

Nadia Léger, Biot

Galerie Cazeau-Beraudier, Paris

Acquired from the above on 21 July 2005 by the present owner

Léger saw the potential of working in different mediums early on in his career and enthusiastically explored working on a large scale. While the artist is well-known for his painting and sculpture, Léger frequently worked on large-scale murals, stained-glass and mosaics throughout his life, and his public commissions can be seen to this day. Several vast stained-glass windows are installed in the halls of the University of Caracas and the artist’s commissioned windows in the Sacré-Coeur church at Audincourt, France, draw visitors from around the world.

In the spirit of the collaborative large-scale works that Léger had begun before his death, Léger’s student, friend and collaborator Georges Bauquier continued to commission artisans to realize a select group of Léger’s paintings in a variety of media over the following decades. The monumental mosaics on the exterior of the Musée National Fernand Léger in Biot for example, were executed by Lino and Heidi Melano under the direction of Bauquier and Léger’s widow, Nadia.

The 1952 painting for which the present work is based upon can be found in the Pushkin Museum in Moscow. The present work was executed by Lino Melano at a later date.