Étude pour 'Projet décoratif pour un centre d'aviation populaire'

Details

Fernand Léger (1881-1955)
Étude pour 'Projet décoratif pour un centre d'aviation populaire'
signed with the initials and dated 'F.L. 38' (lower right)
gouache on paper
image: 5 ¼ x 10 ¼ in. (13.3 x 26.1 cm.)
sheet: 6 ¼ x 11 ¼ in. (16 x 28.6 cm.)
Executed in 1938

Provenance

Anonymous sale, Christie's, London, 30 November 1993, lot 224.
Acquired at the above sale by the present owner.

Special notice

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Brought to you by

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Lot Essay

The late Georges Bauquier has confirmed the authenticity of this work.

The mural Projet décoratif pour un centre d'aviation populaire was commissioned to Fernand Léger in 1938, to adorn the Centre d’Aviation Populaire in Briey. The project was never completed, due to the start of the War, and in 1944 the building was destroyed. However, Léger’s studies for the project, such as the present work, exemplify his celebration of the profound changes of modernity that echo throughout his œuvre. The bright, bold colours and sweeping landscape in Étude pour `Projet décoratif pour un centre d'aviation populaire’ display the artist's superlative talent for analysing and revealing the beauty of modern machinery.

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