JACK-COTE D-AZUR-Biot museum-Life and gossip about Fernand Leger
Jack
Loire, Belgium and Holland posts are visible with pictures on
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COTE AZUR-Biot museum-Life and gossip about Fernand Leger
(pictures in site http://www.jack-travel.com )
Fernand Léger was born in Argentan in Normandy. He started to work in
an architect office but soon became a painter. His first work shows
clearly the impressionist influence, after that it was Matisse and the
Fauves influence. Then Cezanne became his favourite and he
participates in the cubist adventure. In 1911 Kahnweiler, the genius
art merchant who also discovered Picasso and Braque, noticed him. But
the big revelation comes when he goes as a soldier to the front in
WWI. "Not alone" was he there" like he said, "shoulder to shoulder
with the whole French nation" but "was also blinded in full sun by the
magic of the light on white metal and canon". Leger always said
later:" After the war I used everything I learned at the frontline".
Leger was not an intellectual, but a simple, uncomplicated and
friendly man, adored by his pupils and working hard day and night like
a simple worker. His biggest goal was to make "the cleaning lady and
the workers at Renault" make understand what he did. He was also a
ceramist, a sculptor, glassmaker and a passionate drawer. During WWII
he immigrated to New York, where the massive and impressive
architecture inspired him. Legers passion for mechanics shows in its
enormous constructions with small, brave men forming an inextricable
unity with pipes, beams and metallic objects, not to forget the
bicycles!
Léger and Picasso had the same age. They knew each other from the wild
days of cubism and when Leger came in 1951 to Biot, Picasso was not
far, in Antibes. About this period, Picasso's companion, Françoise
Gilot reports in her book: "Life with Picasso"'. She tell that Picasso
never had any interest in Léger's work and Pablo explained to
Françoise:" his work is always a little bit outside great painting,
there is not enough in his art for me, it is open and honest but
doesn't mean anything more than what you see". I think that is the
right opinion we must have about Léger's work. It is also amusing to
read in Gilot's memoires how she felt about Nadia Léger. A goodish,
but stupid and stubborn Russian moujik woman. But she was not so
"goodish", our Nadia Petrovna Léger: the Russian world famous cellist
Mstislav Rostropovitch unveiled in summer 1994 that Nadia Petrovna
Léger sent a letter in 1974 to the KGB saying that Nadia called
Rotropovitch and his wife (singer Galia Visjnevskaya) " filthy pigs"
and even added:" that Rostropovitch and his wife should stay in the
West because they were unable to show their gratitude to the
Soviet-Union, who teached them and promoted them (?)". Rostropovitch
told in an interview to the "Figaro" paper that he received the
letters from the KGB after the collapse of the soviet regime.
What excited me most inside the museum Léger was the extensive photo
gallery of Leger's life.
The first halls on the 1st floor trace the evolution of his paintings
through significant works, from the etude for "La Femme en Bleu" where
he breaks off with impressionism by introducing pure colours until his
master work: "Les Constructeurs" (1950). Very important work and here
you can feel Léger's sympathy for socialism.
The second part of this floor, recently build, enlightens marvellously
an unknown aspect of the work of the artist: mural art, ceramics,
window of glass tiles, wall covers, mosaics, tapestries, glass works
and ceramics. "Creation du Monde", a tapestry and the mural
illustration of " Liberte", a famous " object-poem" of his friend Paul
rises as the absolute masterpieces. For the rest the road from
impressionism to cubism is the main line of display and more than 300
works are shown.
Bibliography:
"La Cote d'Azur (Ed.Serre, Nice 1988), Guide du Routard 1998-99,
"Fernand Leger, vie et oeuvres", by Fr.Berliner (ed.Presses Univ.
1996)-" Life with Picasso " by Fr.Gilot (ed. Grasset 1968)-"l'Aventure
de l'Art au XXème Siècle", by Jean-Louis Ferrier (ed. Chene-Hachette
1993)
Jack
My Paris,daytrips from Paris, Provence, Cote d'Azur, valley of the
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