Lot Essay
The circus was an important subject for Léger from 1918 onwards. In 1950 he published his lithographs for Le Cirque, and chief among his major projects of the 1950s were the four versions and related studies of La Grande Parade. He completed the definitive version of La Grande Parade (coll. The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York) in 1954, shortly before his death.
The present study relates to an early phase in the evolution of the figures in La Grande Parade. The central figures in this study, the trapeze artists, were replaced in the later paintings by a male acrobat supporting his female partner. The horse retained his place, although he later faces the opposite direction.
There was a year between the first version of The Grande
Parade and its definitive state. This period included a great
deal of work, both elaborating and synthesizing. The slightest
alteration was pondered for a long time and worked out with the
help of fresh drawings. Because a change in one place affects
the balance of the whole, one is often obliged to rework the
whole construction of the picture. (F. Leger, in J. Cassou and J. Leymarie, Fernand Leger: Drawings and Gouaches, London, 1973, p. 188)
Most notable here is the emphatic circular motion of the artist's forms. "'Go to the circus,' Leger said. 'You leave your rectangles, your geometrically shaped windows behind and go into a land of circular movement.'" (Ibid., p. 189)
The present study relates to an early phase in the evolution of the figures in La Grande Parade. The central figures in this study, the trapeze artists, were replaced in the later paintings by a male acrobat supporting his female partner. The horse retained his place, although he later faces the opposite direction.
There was a year between the first version of The Grande
Parade and its definitive state. This period included a great
deal of work, both elaborating and synthesizing. The slightest
alteration was pondered for a long time and worked out with the
help of fresh drawings. Because a change in one place affects
the balance of the whole, one is often obliged to rework the
whole construction of the picture. (F. Leger, in J. Cassou and J. Leymarie, Fernand Leger: Drawings and Gouaches, London, 1973, p. 188)
Most notable here is the emphatic circular motion of the artist's forms. "'Go to the circus,' Leger said. 'You leave your rectangles, your geometrically shaped windows behind and go into a land of circular movement.'" (Ibid., p. 189)