FERNAN LÉGER

(1881 / 1955)

FERNAND LEGER
Argentan, France (1881) / Gif-Sur-Yvette, France (1955)
"Paysage de la Campagne environnanne d`Argonne. Nord du front", 1915

Indian ink on paper. Certificate with photograph of Mme Sylvain Durand, issued in Renay December 1984, registration no. 342, included. With carved wood frame of the 18th century. Provenance: - Directly from the artist to his close friend and painter Mr Romane and by descent to his successors. - Private collection, Paris. - Miquel Alzueta Gallery, Madrid. Reference bibliography: -Jean Cassou, Jean Leymarie, "Dessins & Gouaches de Fernand Leger", Ed. Editions du Chene, Paris, 1972, no. 31, p.40. Made in 1915, during Fernand Leger's time at the Argonne front, the present work belongs to the small group of drawings executed by the artist in pocket notebooks during the First World War. The experience of the front played a decisive role in the evolution of his plastic language, accentuating the geometrisation of forms and his growing interest in the mechanisation of the image. The piece belongs to the period known as Contrastes de guerre (1915-1917). A work from this same series is held in the Musee de la Guerre, Vincennes. Measurements: 13 x 10 cm.; 39 x 36 x 8 cm. (measurement with frame)