Fernand Léger, The Card Players, 1917.

Oil on canvas, 129 x 193 cm.

Kröller-Müller, Otterlo.

 

 

His encounter with Le Corbusier in 1920 confirmed his taste for monumentality; five years later, he painted the first murals for the pavilion of L’Esprit Nouveau for the architect. In addition to this work, Léger created many settings for films and ballets. He travelled several times to the United States, notably during World War II, where he made many important acquaintances, including the Rockefellers and John Dos Passos.

In his last years, he devoted himself to monumental works, one of which is located at the UN (1952). He passed away three years later. While advocating a purification of the plastic language, a return to basic forms and a severe abstemiousness of painting that he associated with ideas and feelings, Léger inspired Apollinaire to classify his Cubism, as he did with the art of Delaunay, as Orphism.