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Composition by Fernand Léger
- This monumental work by Fernand Léger dates to 1940–1942, the years of his move into American exile
- The painting measures more than four feet high and combines primary colors with branching forms
- Alongside Picasso, Braque and Delaunay, Léger ranks among the giants of modern art
- View the Dossier
- Get complete item description here
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Item No.
32-3236
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Description
Fernand Léger
1881–1955 | French
Composition
Signed "F. LEGER" and dated "40–42" (lower right)
Oil on canvas
Fernand Léger’s bold colors and powerful forms are among the most recognizable in modern art. This monumental work, Composition, brings these defining qualities together in a painting of commanding presence. Dated 1940–1942, the canvas belongs to the years of his wartime exile in America, when new surroundings expanded the visual language he had developed in. . .
1881–1955 | French
Composition
Signed "F. LEGER" and dated "40–42" (lower right)
Oil on canvas
Fernand Léger’s bold colors and powerful forms are among the most recognizable in modern art. This monumental work, Composition, brings these defining qualities together in a painting of commanding presence. Dated 1940–1942, the canvas belongs to the years of his wartime exile in America, when new surroundings expanded the visual language he had developed in. . .
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Fernand Léger
1881–1955 | French
Composition
Signed "F. LEGER" and dated "40–42" (lower right)
Oil on canvas
Fernand Léger’s bold colors and powerful forms are among the most recognizable in modern art. This monumental work, Composition, brings these defining qualities together in a painting of commanding presence. Dated 1940–1942, the canvas belongs to the years of his wartime exile in America, when new surroundings expanded the visual language he had developed in France. More than four feet high, it combines Léger’s iconic primary palette with branching forms that fill the canvas.
Alongside contemporaries Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque and Robert Delaunay, Léger helped reshape the course of modern painting. He developed a distinctive approach to Cubism, building compositions from cylindrical volumes, contrasting shapes and increasingly abstract arrangements. His fascination with machinery and the rhythms of urban life gave his work a particular identity: a vision of modernity expressed through bold color and forms of architectural strength. In Composition, that structural language meets the freer, organic shapes that became prominent during his American years.
Léger arrived in the United States in 1940 after fleeing occupied France. Already familiar with America through earlier visits, he now encountered the country as an exile, with time to travel and explore its landscapes. The vast terrain and unfamiliar vegetation offered fresh possibilities for an artist long fascinated by the contrasts of modern life. Composition belongs to this consequential chapter, when organic shapes assumed a prominent place alongside the structural clarity of his earlier work.
The painting’s visual force begins with a sweeping red form that rises through its center. Its branches reach across a blue upright and yellow shapes, each defined by broad black contours. White openings punctuate the composition, while a pale pink ground sets the saturated colors into relief. The forms evoke trunks and limbs, yet remain deliberately abstract. Their interlocking curves and verticals give the painting both movement and architectural strength.
The work’s history adds to its significance. Composition remained in Léger’s estate until at least 1957 and later passed through Galerie Louise Leiris in Paris. It appeared in Léger exhibitions in Munich, Basel and Zürich in 1957, followed by Documenta III in 1964 and further exhibitions in Copenhagen, Marseille, Düsseldorf and other cities. Illustrated in published scholarship and recorded as no. 1077 in Georges Bauquier’s catalogue raisonné, the painting has an extensive documentary record.
Dated 1940–1942
Canvas: 50 1/2" high x 37 3/8" wide (128.3 x 94.9 cm)
Frame: 60 7/8" high x 47 5/8" wide x 2 1/2" deep (154.6 x 121.0 x 6.4 cm)
View the Dossier
Provenance:
The artist’s estate until at least 1957
Galerie Louise Leiris, Paris, by 1964 until at least 1967
Waddington Gallery, London
Private collection, Montreal
Private collection, Europe
M.S. Rau, New Orleans
Literature:
W. Haftmann, Painting in the Twentieth Century, vol. I, New York, 1960, p. 2 (illustrated)
W. Haftmann, Painting in the Twentieth Century, vol. II, London, 1965, p. 198 (illustrated)
S. Fauchereau, “Fernand Léger, Paris,” in Les grands maîtres de l’art contemporain, Barcelona, 1994, no. 97 (illustrated)
G. Bauquier, Fernand Léger: Catalogue raisonné, 1938–1943, Paris, 1998, no. 1077, p. 152 (illustrated p. 153)
Exhibited:
Munich, Haus der Kunst, Fernand Léger, March–May 1957, no. 86
Basel, Kunsthalle, Fernand Léger, May–June 1957, no. 75
Zürich, Kunsthaus, Fernand Léger, July–August 1957, no. 99
Copenhagen, Charlottenborg, Fernand Léger: Maler, tegninger og grafik, autumn 1959, no. 31 (illustrated)
Kassel, Alte Galerie, Documenta III, June–October 1964, no. 4, p. 68 (illustrated)
Marseille, Musée Cantini, Fernand Léger, June–September 1966, no. 63 (illustrated)
Tel Aviv, Musée, Fernand Léger, 1967, no. 22
Düsseldorf, Städtische Kunsthalle, Fernand Léger, December 1969–February 1970, no. 80 (illustrated)
Montauban, Musée Ingres, Fernand Léger, June–September 1977, no. 17, p. 16 (illustrated)
Montreal, Landau Fine Art, Picasso + Léger, November–December 1991, p. 10 (illustrated p. 11)
1881–1955 | French
Composition
Signed "F. LEGER" and dated "40–42" (lower right)
Oil on canvas
Fernand Léger’s bold colors and powerful forms are among the most recognizable in modern art. This monumental work, Composition, brings these defining qualities together in a painting of commanding presence. Dated 1940–1942, the canvas belongs to the years of his wartime exile in America, when new surroundings expanded the visual language he had developed in France. More than four feet high, it combines Léger’s iconic primary palette with branching forms that fill the canvas.
Alongside contemporaries Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque and Robert Delaunay, Léger helped reshape the course of modern painting. He developed a distinctive approach to Cubism, building compositions from cylindrical volumes, contrasting shapes and increasingly abstract arrangements. His fascination with machinery and the rhythms of urban life gave his work a particular identity: a vision of modernity expressed through bold color and forms of architectural strength. In Composition, that structural language meets the freer, organic shapes that became prominent during his American years.
Léger arrived in the United States in 1940 after fleeing occupied France. Already familiar with America through earlier visits, he now encountered the country as an exile, with time to travel and explore its landscapes. The vast terrain and unfamiliar vegetation offered fresh possibilities for an artist long fascinated by the contrasts of modern life. Composition belongs to this consequential chapter, when organic shapes assumed a prominent place alongside the structural clarity of his earlier work.
The painting’s visual force begins with a sweeping red form that rises through its center. Its branches reach across a blue upright and yellow shapes, each defined by broad black contours. White openings punctuate the composition, while a pale pink ground sets the saturated colors into relief. The forms evoke trunks and limbs, yet remain deliberately abstract. Their interlocking curves and verticals give the painting both movement and architectural strength.
The work’s history adds to its significance. Composition remained in Léger’s estate until at least 1957 and later passed through Galerie Louise Leiris in Paris. It appeared in Léger exhibitions in Munich, Basel and Zürich in 1957, followed by Documenta III in 1964 and further exhibitions in Copenhagen, Marseille, Düsseldorf and other cities. Illustrated in published scholarship and recorded as no. 1077 in Georges Bauquier’s catalogue raisonné, the painting has an extensive documentary record.
Dated 1940–1942
Canvas: 50 1/2" high x 37 3/8" wide (128.3 x 94.9 cm)
Frame: 60 7/8" high x 47 5/8" wide x 2 1/2" deep (154.6 x 121.0 x 6.4 cm)
View the Dossier
Provenance:
The artist’s estate until at least 1957
Galerie Louise Leiris, Paris, by 1964 until at least 1967
Waddington Gallery, London
Private collection, Montreal
Private collection, Europe
M.S. Rau, New Orleans
Literature:
W. Haftmann, Painting in the Twentieth Century, vol. I, New York, 1960, p. 2 (illustrated)
W. Haftmann, Painting in the Twentieth Century, vol. II, London, 1965, p. 198 (illustrated)
S. Fauchereau, “Fernand Léger, Paris,” in Les grands maîtres de l’art contemporain, Barcelona, 1994, no. 97 (illustrated)
G. Bauquier, Fernand Léger: Catalogue raisonné, 1938–1943, Paris, 1998, no. 1077, p. 152 (illustrated p. 153)
Exhibited:
Munich, Haus der Kunst, Fernand Léger, March–May 1957, no. 86
Basel, Kunsthalle, Fernand Léger, May–June 1957, no. 75
Zürich, Kunsthaus, Fernand Léger, July–August 1957, no. 99
Copenhagen, Charlottenborg, Fernand Léger: Maler, tegninger og grafik, autumn 1959, no. 31 (illustrated)
Kassel, Alte Galerie, Documenta III, June–October 1964, no. 4, p. 68 (illustrated)
Marseille, Musée Cantini, Fernand Léger, June–September 1966, no. 63 (illustrated)
Tel Aviv, Musée, Fernand Léger, 1967, no. 22
Düsseldorf, Städtische Kunsthalle, Fernand Léger, December 1969–February 1970, no. 80 (illustrated)
Montauban, Musée Ingres, Fernand Léger, June–September 1977, no. 17, p. 16 (illustrated)
Montreal, Landau Fine Art, Picasso + Léger, November–December 1991, p. 10 (illustrated p. 11)
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Specifications
| Maker: | Leger, Fernand |
| Period: | 1919-Present |
| Origin: | America |
| Type: | Paintings |
| Style: | Modernism |
| Depth: | 2.5 in. (6.35 cm) |
| Width: | 47.63 in. (120.97 cm) |
| Height: | 60.88 in. (154.62 cm) |
| Canvas Width: | 37.375 in. (94.93 cm) |
| Canvas Height: | 50.500 in. (128.27 cm) |
Buy With Confidence
For over a century, we've placed important art, rare jewels and exceptional objects with more than 14,000 collectors worldwide, and have been recognized by trusted publications including Robb Report, The New York Times, Wall Street Journal and more.
On Approval
Examine select works in person before you commit
125% Guarantee
Full credit plus 5% annual appreciation for five years
Trusted Expertise
Over two centuries of combined experience across our specialists
