Dadamaino
The Facts of Life. Letter No. 12
1980
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Fernand Léger
1919
Fernand Léger temporarily abandoned representational depiction in his Contrast of Forms series of 1913–14. When he returned from the front in 1917 and resumed painting, he reintroduced recognizable imagery in his work. Responsive to the technological advances and assertive advertising that followed World War I, he embarked on his “mechanical” period with works such as Men in the City. In the urban themes of this period, the human figure becomes as de-individualized and mechanized as the environment it occupies. Léger is able to express the rhythmic energy of contemporary life by finding its pictorial equivalent. Form, color, and shape are considered primarily for their plastic values and are given equal emphasis. They confront one another in a multitude of relations, creating single images that capture simultaneous sensations. Léger’s simple, varied, and clear pictorial elements, like ideal machines, efficiently produce effects of maximum power.
On view
Artist | Fernand Léger |
Original Title | Les Hommes dans la ville |
Date | 1919 |
Medium | Oil on canvas |
Dimensions | 145.7 x 113.5 cm |
Credit line | Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice (Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, New York) |
Accession | 76.2553 PG 21 |
Collection | Peggy Guggenheim Collection |
Type | Painting |
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On view
Dadamaino
1980
René Magritte
1931
On view
Fernand Léger
1912–13
On view
Anish Kapoor
1993
On view