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Lot Essay
‘My era was one of great contrasts, and I am the one who made the most of it. I am the witness of my time’ - Fernand Léger
As with mural and mosaic works, Léger’s experiments with ceramics were rooted in a broader desire to expand the traditional notion the nature of art, to escape the canvas, to move his art on to everything from decorative objects to the walls of the city. Made of everyday materials and created in an edition, Léger intended these small sculptural works to be accessible to a wide audience of collectors and enthusiasts, which could be easily displayed in even the most modest of homes. The artist’s first experiments were carried out in the studio of the ceramicist Roland Brice, who had studied under Léger’s tutelage from 1937 alongside Nicolas de Stael and workers from the Renault automobile factory. These works, which successfully translated Léger’s unique painterly style into ceramic, represent a true collaboration between the two artists – Brice considered the technical aspects of the production, while Léger conceived the design, shaped the final sculpture before it was fired, and applied the finished colour. Calling these experiments new ‘plastic facts’, Léger reached a new understanding of form and colour through their realisation, the bright, dynamic three-dimensional form of each new work offering an alternative channel for his lyrical, artistic expression.
As with mural and mosaic works, Léger’s experiments with ceramics were rooted in a broader desire to expand the traditional notion the nature of art, to escape the canvas, to move his art on to everything from decorative objects to the walls of the city. Made of everyday materials and created in an edition, Léger intended these small sculptural works to be accessible to a wide audience of collectors and enthusiasts, which could be easily displayed in even the most modest of homes. The artist’s first experiments were carried out in the studio of the ceramicist Roland Brice, who had studied under Léger’s tutelage from 1937 alongside Nicolas de Stael and workers from the Renault automobile factory. These works, which successfully translated Léger’s unique painterly style into ceramic, represent a true collaboration between the two artists – Brice considered the technical aspects of the production, while Léger conceived the design, shaped the final sculpture before it was fired, and applied the finished colour. Calling these experiments new ‘plastic facts’, Léger reached a new understanding of form and colour through their realisation, the bright, dynamic three-dimensional form of each new work offering an alternative channel for his lyrical, artistic expression.