Fernand Léger: The Original Granddaddy of Pop Art

Fernand Léger’s work in the 1920s made his international reputation. They combined that certain quality of surrealism and the strong characteristic  of the plain forms which he came to be known for. His work was also associated with Purism and with the De Stijl artists. In 1924, he made the film Mechanical Ballet with renowned artist, Man Ray. The paintings he created in the 1920s were done for architectural settings, they were mainly abstract, while others used simplified motifs.

Examples of these sorts were included in Le Corbusier’s Pavillon de l’Esprit Nouveau at the Paris Decorative Arts exhibition in 1925. Léger was fascinated with technology, machinery and the increased speed with which modern life was being lived. He translated this fascination into his art by simplifying forms into tubular structures and reducing colors to monochromes, primaries and secondaries. His need to conjure up the intense and unsettling experience of modern life was quite apparent in all his paintings.


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