Fernand Léger was born in Argentan (Orne) France on February 4th 1881. His father was a cattle farmer. He was trained as an architect before moving to Paris in 1900 to start a career as an architectal draftsman. He studied at the School of Decorative Arts since his application for the École des Beaux-Arts was rejected. Although he attended the École des Beaux-Arts shortly together with painter and sculptor Gérome and later private school: Académie Julian. At the age of 25 he seriously started to work as a painter. His style at that moment was impressionism like for example "Le Jardin de ma mère". One of the works he didn't distroy later in his career.

Le Jardin de ma Mére (1905)

His style changed in 1907 when he saw Cézanne's retrospective collection at the Salon d'Automne. In 1910 he exhibited there also with his own paintings like "Nudes in the Forest". His style is described a personal form of Cubism titled "Tubism" because of the use of cylindrical forms.

Nudes in the Forest (1910)

In 1911 his work was exhibited at the Salon des Indépendants together paintings from Jean Metzinger, Albert Gleizes and Henri Le Fauconnier in the first ever Cubism exhibition for the general public.

In 1912 he formed the Puteaux Group aka Section d'Or with painters: Le Fauconnier, Metzinger, Gleizes, Francis Picabia and the Duchamp brothers, Jacques Villon, Raymon Duchamp-Villon and Marcel Duchamp.

Soldier with a Pipe (1916)

Since 1914 his work became more abstract and he was mobilized to join the army in World War I which became a source of inspiration for his work like "Soldier with a pipe" (1916). In 1916 he almost died after a mustard gas attack by German troops at Verdun. In his recovery period in Villepinte he painted "The Card Players" (1917). It marked the beginning of his "mechanical period" including the Disk series in 1918.

The Card Players (1917)
The Bridge of the Tug Boat (1920)

He married Jeanne-Augustine Lohy in 1919 and met architect and also painter Le Corbusier in 1920. He painted works like "Nude On a Red Background" (1927) and "The Siphon" (1924). He became enthusiastic for the cinema and decided to become a filmmaker as well. He designed the film set for a laboratory scene in Marcel L'Herbier's "L'Inhumaine" in 1924. He collaborated with Amédée Ozenfant to establish the Académie Moderne where he thaught. In 1925 he created his first mural paintings.

Nude on a red background (1927)

The Siphon (1924)

A new style was developed in the 1930's including "Two Sisters" (1935) and several versions of "Adam and Eve" with some humor. In 1931 he made his first visit to the United States where he visited New York and Chicago. In 1935 the MOMA in New York presented an exhibition of his work. He also decorated Nelson Rockefeller's apartment.

Two Sisters (1935)

During World War II Léger lived in the US and thaught at Yale University. Works from this period: The Tree and the Ladder (1943-1944), Romantic Landscape (1946) and "Three Musicians" (1944). 

He returned to France in 1945 where he joined to Communistic Party and his work became less abstract. He created paintings of popular life featuring acrobats, builders, divers and more. Later he made paintings about the consumer society which marks the first step to Pop Art. He was a teacher for many years at the Académie Vasilieff in Paris then in 1931 at the Sorbonne, then at his own Académie Fernand Léger.

The Great Parade (1953)

In 1952 some of his murals were installed in the Genaral Assembly Hall of the UN headquarters in New York and in 1960 the Fernand Léger Museum was opened in Biot, France. He married Nadia Khodessevitch in 1952 after the death of his first wife. In his final years he lectured in Bern, designed mosaics and stained-glass windows for the Central University of Venezuela in Caracas. Paintings from this period: Country Outing, The Camper and the series of Big Parade. He suddenly died at home on August 17th 1955.

Stained-glass windows Central University of Venezuela
Country Outing (1954)