Lot Essay
"Nous sommes témoins d'un retour au sujet en général, qui doit être compréhensible par le peuple. Les gens sont enchaînés à leur travail, sans loisirs, dominés par une époque bourgeoise ; c'est notre tragédie." (F. Léger, "Peinture murale et peinture de chevalet", in Les fonctions de la peinture, New York, 1973, p. 161.) Dans les années 1940-50, Fernand Léger repense son approche de la figure humaine. Il refuse l'abstraction totale et cherche des sujets qui soient compréhensibles par le plus grand nombre. Le thème des travailleurs répond à cette nécessité. Peindre des ouvriers revient alors à prendre parti pour une forme d'art plus "populaire" et plus accessible. C'est ainsi que naît la série des Constructeurs où se mêlent architecture et figures humaines d'ouvriers. Cette peinture contrastée de la vie moderne se retrouve dans le thème des Travailleurs au repos que Fernand Léger a décliné à plusieurs reprises. Comme dans la plupart des oeuvres du même style, trois plans se succèdent et semblent se mêler: les ouvriers, debout ou assis, au premier plan, le mélange végétal et minéral fait d'arbres et de structures métalliques au second plan, et enfin les nuages au troisième plan. Cette composition est typique du "tubisme" (selon l'expression de Louis Vauxcelles) propre à Léger. En effet, à la différence du cubisme où il s'agit de figurer la totalité de l'objet par des volumes géométriques statiques et indissociables, Léger préfère distinguer chaque objet en volume et en plan créant entre eux un dynamisme, reflet du monde moderne.
"We are witnessing a return to the broad subject, which must be comprehensible to the people. The people, tied down, bent over their work all day long, without leisure activities, are completely overlooked by our bourgeois epoch; that is the tragedy of today" (Ferdnand Léger, "Mural Painting and Easel Painting,"in Functions of Painting, New York, 1950, p. 178). During the 1940s-50s, Fernand Léger reconsidered his approach to the human figure. He rejected total abstraction and sought out subjects comprehensible to the majority of people. The theme of workers met this need. Painting workers therefore became a way of promoting a more "popular" and more accessible type of art. This is how the Constructeurs (Construction workers) series, combining architecture and human figures of construction workers, came about. This contrasting painting of modern life can also be found in the theme of Travailleurs au repos (Workers resting) which Fernand Léger adapted several times. As in most works in this style, a series of three perspectives seems to merge: the workers, either standing or sitting in the foreground, an organic and inorganic combination of trees and metal structures in the middle ground, and finally clouds in the background. This composition is typical of Léger's particular "Tubism" (to use an expression coined by Louis Vauxcelles). For unlike Cubism, in which the whole object is represented by static and indissociable geometric volumes, Léger prefers to separate each object in terms of volume and perspective, creating a dynamic between them representative of the modern world.
"We are witnessing a return to the broad subject, which must be comprehensible to the people. The people, tied down, bent over their work all day long, without leisure activities, are completely overlooked by our bourgeois epoch; that is the tragedy of today" (Ferdnand Léger, "Mural Painting and Easel Painting,"in Functions of Painting, New York, 1950, p. 178). During the 1940s-50s, Fernand Léger reconsidered his approach to the human figure. He rejected total abstraction and sought out subjects comprehensible to the majority of people. The theme of workers met this need. Painting workers therefore became a way of promoting a more "popular" and more accessible type of art. This is how the Constructeurs (Construction workers) series, combining architecture and human figures of construction workers, came about. This contrasting painting of modern life can also be found in the theme of Travailleurs au repos (Workers resting) which Fernand Léger adapted several times. As in most works in this style, a series of three perspectives seems to merge: the workers, either standing or sitting in the foreground, an organic and inorganic combination of trees and metal structures in the middle ground, and finally clouds in the background. This composition is typical of Léger's particular "Tubism" (to use an expression coined by Louis Vauxcelles). For unlike Cubism, in which the whole object is represented by static and indissociable geometric volumes, Léger prefers to separate each object in terms of volume and perspective, creating a dynamic between them representative of the modern world.