Composition au tronc d'arbre

Details

Fernand Léger (1881-1955)
Composition au tronc d'arbre
signed with the initials and dated 'F.L 32' (lower right)
pen and India ink on buff paper
19 7/8 x 14 5/8 in. (50.5 x 37 cm)
Executed in 1932

Provenance

Galerie Louise Leiris, Paris (no. 15986).
Galerie Louis Carré, Paris.
Acquired by the present owner before 1989.

Literature

G. Néret, Fernand Léger, Paris, 1990, no. 212.

Exhibited

Paris, Galerie Louise Leiris, Fernand Léger, 75 Gouaches et Dessins 1911-1955, June - July 1981, no. 38.
Jerusalem, The Israel Museum, Fernand Léger, Oeuvres sur papier, April - June 1989, no. 74.
Milan, Palazzo Reale, Fernand Léger, November 1989 - February 1990, no. 112.
Villeneuve d'Ascq, Musée d'Art Moderne, Fernand Léger, March - June 1990, no. 120.
Paris, Galerie Berggruen & Cie, Fernand Léger, gouaches, aquarelles et dessins, October - November 1996, no. 31 (illustrated).

Special notice

VAT rate of 5% is payable on hammer price plus buyer's premium.

Lot Essay

Léger has contrasted in this drawing various hard, vertical shapes, both natural and man-made, which he has enveloped with a rippling, ribbon-like vine, and the filiform arabesque of a radically stylised aloe plant, seen at lower right. Léger painted two related canvases in 1932, Composition aux contrastes and Composition au tronc d'arbre (Bauquier, nos. 821-822).

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