Catàleg FERNAND LÉGER UNICAJA

FERNAND LGER El cubista afable
EXPOSICIN
Sevilla
Julio-septiembre
Septiembre-noviembre
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El cubista afable
UNICAJA Presidente Braulio Medel Cmara Director de obra social y R.S.E. Felipe Faraguna Brunner PATRONATO FUNDACIN UNICAJA Presidente Braulio Medel Cmara Vicepresidente Mariano Vergara Utrera Vocales Manuel Alcntara Francisco J. Berlanga Fernndez Alberto Fernndez Gutirrez Francisco Jess Flores Lara Jos Garca Prez Antonio M. Garrido Moraga Manuel Jimnez Barrios Francisco Herrera Nez Cecilia Len Ballesteros Eduardo Martn Toval Pedro Moreno Brenes Eduardo Navarro Lpez Ignacio Ortega Campos Secretario Agustn Molina Morales Exposicin Produccin Fundaci Unicaja Organitzacin Fundaci Unicaja Coordinacin general Inparce Barcelona Comisariado Antonio Niebla Coordinacin Julio Niebla Anna Buscat Supervisin Elena Garmendia gata Gonzlez Diseo y direccin del montage Enric Ansesa Equipo de montage X. Sureda, SL Electricitat Xifra Jordi Valent Joan Masergas Diseo grfico AMR Publicitat Transporte Ars Bureau International Aseguramiento Aon Gil y Carvajal Catlogo Edita 2008 Fundaci Unicaja Textos els autors Arcadi Calzada i Salavedra Dominique Haim Chanin Antonio Niebla Julio Niebla Correccin y traducciones Traduaction Diseo Mnica Casanova y Anton M. Rigau, AMR Publicitat Impresin Policrom Depsito legal B-xxxx-08 Agradecimientos Fundaci Caixa Girona Fundaci Alorda-Derksen Museu Es Baluard, Palma de Mallorca Luis Bassat Carmen Bassat Dominique Haim Chanin Laura Alorda Nria Poch Marcel Pascual Pilar Forcada Jeannette Leroy M. Claire Uberquoi Claude Brice Yvette Cauquil-Prince Al Mestre Paul Haim, in memoriam, sin el no habra sido posible esta exposicin
FERNAND LGER
Imagen portada: La Partie de campagne, 1954 (fragmento) Tapiz, 300 x 367 cm

Centre Cultural de Caixa Girona Fontana dOr C. Ciutadans, 19, 17004 Girona www.fundaciocaixadegirona.org
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Fernand Lger en su taller, calle Notre-Dame-des-Champs, 1937

FERNAND LGER El cubista afable 5
LGER POUR LGER Dominique Haim Chanin

La interaccin de arte y arquitectura en espacios pblicos se convirti en una gran preocupacin en la obra de Lger. Una preocupacin que fue adquiriendo importancia a lo largo de toda su vida creativa. Despus de observar la obra de Lger, el arquitecto Le Corbusier la describi como hermana de la arquitectura... El vnculo es tan imperioso que la pintura de Lger en comparacin con la de los dems pintores en activo es la nica que reclama una nueva arquitectura. A lo largo de su vida, Lger se afan por crear arte de una escala y de un estilo que armonizasen con el entorno arquitectnico. Lger perciba las limitaciones de los formatos convencionales y se preocup de desarrollar la magnitud y la expansin de su arte. El artista aadi que el objetivo final era expresar el mximo de intensidad, incluso la violencia, en un muro. Si pudiese llevarlo a cabo, morira feliz. En 1942, exiliado en los Estados Unidos en tiempos de guerra, Lger escribi al director del Museo de Arte Moderno para que le ayudase a encontrar una pared pblica que le permitiese realizar una gran pintura mural (como) culminacin de los dos aos de trabajo en los Estados Unidos. Cuando regres a Pars, despus de la guerra, Lger continu explorando la monumentalidad. En 1953, defini sus ltimas obras expuestas en la galera Louis Carr como movimiento hacia la arquitectura. As, escribi: Esta exposicin de esculturas policromadas indica una clara evolucin hacia el objetivo de colaborar con la arquitectura. Tengo esta preocupacin desde el principio, pero empec con cautela, utilizando los cuadros de caballete como punto de partida. Ahora, el arte mural est adquiriendo todas las formas posibles: para uso interior o exterior, con foco esttico o dinmico, o complementando u ocultando un muro. La evolucin final ha empezado con La Fleur qui marche y con la gran escultura policromada, Le Tournesol, que pertenece al Museo de Arte Moderno de Pars. Durante los aos anteriores a su muerte, en 1955, Lger se concentr en el reto de crear un arte de masas. Algunos de sus grandes xitos son de esta poca, como los mosaicos del Memorial de la Segunda Guerra Mundial
en Bastogne (1950), los vitrales y tapices de la iglesia de Audincourt, en Francia (19501951), la decoracin del gran auditorio del edificio de las Naciones Unidas en Nueva York (1952), las ventanas con vitrales de la iglesia de Courfaivre, en Suiza (19531954), y los vitrales y mosaicos de la Universidad de Caracas, en Venezuela (1954). Al realizar estas obras monumentales, Lger se dio cuenta de que para llevar a cabo su visin creativa necesitara la tcnica de un grupo de maestros artesanos excepcionales. Conceba estas colaboraciones como una parte esencial de la creacin de obras para el gran pblico. Sobre este proceso de colaboracin escribi: La pintura de caballete es estrictamente individual, mientras que la pintura mural es de un orden intrnsecamente colectivo. En primer lugar hablo con el arquitecto, y nos ponemos de acuerdo. Cuando llega la hora de comenzar el trabajo, los estudiantes me ayudan. Les muestro unas maquetas y las amplan, y entonces entran en juego mosaiquistas, ceramistas y vidrieros. Tras la muerte de Lger, se llevaron a cabo distintos proyectos pblicos monumentales con sus colaboradores, tomando como base las maquetas de Lger: cermica y mosaicos en el edificio de oficinas de Gaz de France, en Alfortville; mosaicos de la pera de Sao Paulo, en Brasil, o mosaicos en el Hospital Memorial de Saint-L, en Francia. La viuda del artista, Nadia Lger, comprometida con el Museo Fernand Lger de Biot, en Francia, supervis la adaptacin de distintas obras existentes para la fachada de mosaico y cermica del edificio, y para una escultura cermica monumental, Le Jardin denfants. Nueva York, diciembre de 2007
Nadia Lger, Claude Brice, Roland Brice y Fernand Lger en el taller de cermica de Roland Brice, Biot 1954
LGER, EL CUBISTA AFABLE Antonio Niebla

Ver a Lger hoy, sesenta aos despus, fresco, cotidiano, recin hecho, en una poca en la que la velocidad es, sobre todo, una huida inconsciente hacia el abismo irremediable del consumismo, y en un tiempo en el que la ideologa de muchos de nosotros es simplemente tratar de ser jvenes, es lluvia fresca y necesaria. Esta sociedad que ha exaltado la juventud y sus valores con tal frenes que ha hecho de ese culto, ya no una religin, sino una supersticin, est cometiendo una torpeza histrica. Nunca lo que somos y nos rodea haba envejecido tanto y tan pronto como ahora. Nuestras colecciones de arte, nuestras antologas de poesa y nuestras bibliotecas y filmotecas, llenas de estilos, movimientos, cuadros y esculturas, estn pasadas de moda. Lo afirma la crtica (enamorada sobre todo de s misma), las ferias espectculos y el papanatismo del s buana ante los gurs del arte. Y lo que ms duele a nuestros pobres odos apabullados por tanta verborrea, y a nuestros ojos confundidos, es que nos vemos, en muchas cosas que nos gustan, incompresiblemente envejecidos! Pero, por qu? Si pelculas, libros y cuadros de los que somos hijos estn vivos y siguen siendo ventanas abiertas a nuestra imaginacin, si continan siendo el amor que an nos llena, por qu mirar con timidez aquello que genera vida y que es el espejo donde mirar la historia en la que crecimos? Si el milagro del arte surge del equilibrio entre el oficio y el concepto al servicio del sentimiento, tenemos que empezar a decir que Lger era un tierno y enamoradizo pintor de todo lo concerniente al arte. Para l, el dolor, la ilusin, el amanecer, la tristeza y la sonrisa, los animales y los rboles estaban, todos, interrelacionados. Su afn era llevar a la pintura la vida misma de forma sugerida. Muy amigo de sus amigos, fue siempre agradecido con cualquiera que tuviera un gesto de apoyo hacia su causa, que era bsicamente ser buena persona. Nos deca Lger que su territorio era la vida como mar, y su velero, el arte. Aquellos que le conocieron hablan de su encanto y su poder de seduccin, y de su carcter afable y sencillo. Era un hombre muy arraigado a la tierra.
Robert Doisneau Lger, Modles, 1937. Archivo Robert Doisneau, Pars
amigos le llamaban el Hrcules alegre. A la vez era un intelectual, que aprehenda cuanto se le acercaba y lo haca suyo. Excelente conversador que supo asimilar la sabidura que nace en la gente del campo engendrada por mltiples cosas sencillas, como el olor de la hierba cortada, el color de la tierra recin arada, la virtud de saber esperar la lluvia, el tiempo de la siembra y de la cosecha, y aguantar las inclemencias del tiempo hasta que llega la bonanza. Lger era un intelectual que paseaba con orgullo por el mundo su aspecto de campesino de Normanda. Su vida fue una lucha constante. Cada vez y en cualquiera de los episodios vividos, su lucha va marcando paso a paso su aventura de pintor. Lger expresa en su obra implacablemente los cambios de la guerra de su vida. Guerra en los aos en que intentaba descubrirse a s mismo, guerra con el impresionismo, con Czanne, con los cubistas, guerra con el color. Y despus de la guerra contra la guerra: guerra contra los objetos, contra el muro, contra la madurez. Sin duda juega, lucha, se divierte y sufre. Es un artista introvertido en una lucha incesante consigo mismo al que devoran las dudas. Lger nace el 4 de febrero de 1882 en Argentan, Normanda. Hijo de una familia de ganaderos, le llaman Jules-Fernand-Henry Lger, predestinado a ser, sin duda, una de las figuras ms notables del arte del siglo xx. Queda hurfano de padre a los dos aos. A los quince siente pasin por el dibujo, deja el trabajo en la granja familiar y entre 1897 y 1899 trabaja de aprendiz de delineante con un arquitecto en la ciudad de Caen. Se traslada a Pars en 1900 y malvive de sus conocimientos de delineante de arquitectura. Tres aos despus quiere estudiar en la cole de Beaux Arts, y le rechazan por incapacidad artstica. No obstante, asiste como observador, y recibe lecciones de Lon Grme y Gabriel Ferri. A la vez asiste a clases en la cole dArts dcoratifs y en la clebre academia Julian. Es un empedernido visitante del museo del Louvre y de las galeras de la rue Laffitte, calle en la que exponen los impresionistas. Sus primeras pinturas (1905) tienen una notable influencia impresionista.
Su porte de hombre alto y fornido reflejaba una vitalidad tan contagiosa que entre sus
Nus dans la fort (Desnudos en el bosque) 19091910 leo sobre tela 120 x 170 cm Krller-Mller Museum, Otterlo Pases Bajos
Mientras, Pars est pletrico de influencias. Es una olla en ebullicin artstica con un ambiente lleno de tensiones donde, principalmente, existen dos grupos que tratan de ignorarse mutuamente: uno, marcado por los impresionistas, y el otro, por el vanguardismo que llega de Rusia, influido sobre todo por Kandinsky, Kasimir Malevich, Vladimir Tatlin. Unos estn en Montmartre, los otros, en la zona de Montparnasse. En 1908 Lger alquila un estudio en Montparnasse, en el nmero dos del pasaje Dantzig, en un edificio que llamaban la Ruche la colmena por la cantidad de artistas que all tenan su estudio. La mayora de sus vecinos pertenecen al grupo vanguardista ruso-parisino. All conoce, entre otros, al matrimonio Delaunay, a Lipchitz, a Marc Chagall, a Archipenko, a Laurens, a poetas y escritores como Apollinaire, Max Jakob, Reverdy, Blaise Cendrars o Maurice Raynal y a una serie de intelectuales de cuya amistad disfrutar toda la vida. Establece una curiosa amistad con el aduanero Rousseau, quien, con su aparente ingenuidad, es el mximo bombardero anti-impresionista. Su inquietud es imparable y con algunos miembros del grupo funda la revista Section dOr, plataforma de debate socio-cultural que lleg a tener suma importancia. Lger tiene 29 aos cuando presenta en el Salon des Indpendants el cuadro Nus dans la fort (19091910), una de sus obras ms importantes de la primera poca, posiblemente inspirada en un cuadro del mismo nombre de Picasso de 1908. La obra mide 120 x 170 cm y est regida por formas troncocnicas, circundada de tubos. A propsito de esta obra, el crtico Vauxelles bautiz con sorna el estilo como tubismo. Picasso coment ante el cuadro: He aqu un muchacho que aporta algo nuevo al cubismo, que ya no tendr el mismo nombre que lo nuestro. A diferencia de Braque y Picasso, Lger se rige por la perspectiva tradicional. El cuadro engloba rboles y vegetacin variada en primer plano, acentuada por la restringida eleccin de colores, y presenta tres figuras de leadores, uno sentado al centro, y dos a los lados. Aqu
Vive una situacin muy precaria. El poco tiempo que le deja el trabajo por las maanas en un estudio de arquitectura, y por las tardes en casa de un fotgrafo retocando y coloreando fotos, lo dedica a pintar sobre cartones y sobre cualquier material con superficie que cae en sus manos. La exposicin retrospectiva de Czanne en el Salon dAutomne de 1907 en Pars fue un hecho fundamental en la historia del arte. Lger queda impresionado de la importancia que Czanne otorga al volumen en tanto que estructura, y su particular concepcin de la realidad en las naturalezas muertas, que representa con cilindros, conos, cubos y esferas ofreciendo una perspectiva merced a la cual, cada lado del objeto se refiere directo a su eje central. Este hecho cambia su concepcin de la distribucin de los elementos en un cuadro, sobre todo la incidencia de la luz sobre ellos. Ese mismo ao descubre el cubismo de Picasso y Braque, ambos fieles seguidores de Czanne y punto real de partida del movimiento cubista: mezcla de la estructura de la obra de Czanne con el primitivismo africano de Picasso y las formas estructuradas de Braque. El pintor Lger crece en el impresionismo y, a raz de la influencia de Czanne, se siente seducido por el dinamismo de las formas y la influencia del color, que le llevan a sus primeras obras de rasgos cubistas. Czanne es tambin su referente: los motivos cilndricos, botes de leche, cafeteras, vasos y, especialmente, los reflejos de luz cezanianos que le fascinan y que Lger llega a generalizar en casi toda su trayectoria. Desde un principio, su cubismo se orienta hacia una iconografa nueva y personal, aportando una visin potica de las mquinas.
10 FERNAND LGER El cubista afable
ya, Lger prefigura lo que ser ms adelante su estilo al pintar el reino vegetal, en medio de una estructura de tubos metlicos que simboliza un mundo mecnico. Lger se convierte en un claro referente para los jvenes artistas parisinos. El galerista y poeta Daniel Henry Kahnweiler (posiblemente el galerista ms importante del mundo), marchante de Picasso y Braque, se interesa por su obra y presenta en 1910 en su galera parisina una exposicin sobre cubismo de los tres autores. El cubismo de Lger, a diferencia del cubismo analtico de Braque, Picasso y Juan Gris, es ms denso y concentrado en s mismo, est animado por un principio de infinitud, por una fuerza compositiva diferente. Otra obra histrica de Lger, La Noce, de 1911, con medidas considerables (257 x 206 cm) est animada por una fuerza centrfuga, una dispersin lrica que hace de esta obra una de las ms complejas de su trayectoria. Otro personaje con influencia en el cubismo y en la obra de Lger es el pintor mejicano Diego Rivera, pocas veces reconocido. Rivera aporta su viveza mejicana y sus colores frescos y nuevos a la realidad parisina. Participa en el Salon dAutomne de Pars en 1912 y en 1913. Expone individualmente, en 1913, en la Galerie Bernheim Jeune, una coleccin de pinturas de un cubismo fresco, personal y colorista, una exposicin que ilustres visitantes de la pintura visitan de puntillas para no ser vistos. En la mayora de ocasiones probablemente Lger est ms cerca de Rivera que de Braque, Picasso o Juan Gris, sobre todo en la disposicin de las formas, en la calidez de la propuesta y en su vivo y fresco colorido. Ni que decir tiene que Lger era un depredador de cultura en el mejor sentido de la palabra, siempre interesado por el teatro, el cine, la poesa y la literatura. Era un buen orador y da buena muestra de sus conocimientos en la conferencia Los orgenes de la pintura contempornea y su valor representativo en la academia Marie Wassilieff de Berln. Meses despus es invitado de nuevo por la misma academia y su conferencia La realizacin pictrica actual cosecha tambin un gran xito. Lger, como Delaunay, necesita amplios espacios urbanos, huye del estudio cerrado y, por sus races de campesino, aora los espacios
abiertos. Nada que ver con las acostumbradas naturalezas muertas ennegrecidas o los paisajes de tejados y chimeneas humeantes que los artistas ven y pintan desde los ventanucos de las buhardillas. La diferencia es que Lger, al igual que Mir, no tratan de compartir con el espectador su dolor, su miedo y sus frustraciones. Ambos ofrecen una puerta abierta a la esperanza y la alegra del color hasta la saciedad, mientras sus contemporneos cubistas lo desechan. Lger tiene 32 aos cuando estalla la Primera Guerra Mundial y es reclutado como zapador por el Ejrcito francs. El nivel cultural de sus nuevos compaeros es muy distinto del de los amigos que ha dejado en Pars: se trata de mineros, fundidores, marineros, mecnicos y campesinos. Acostumbrado a las continuas polmicas, la situacin que padece al no poder compartir sus conocimientos y dudas le lleva a una desgarrada soledad. Est en contra de la guerra, pero lo envan al frente de Argonne donde pasa dos aos. Despus le trasladan como camillero al frente de Verdn. Se siente solo, pero aprovecha cualquier momento libre para dibujar y leer. El correo no funciona, y no sabe nada de sus amigos. Un ao despus es herido gravemente por una bomba de gas que le obliga a permanecer internado ms de un ao en el hospital de Villepinte. Posteriormente es declarado intil total para el ejrcito. En 1917 expone dibujos y aguadas en la galera LEffort Moderne, propiedad del galerista Lonce Rosenberg. Las vivencias horribles de la guerra y todo el tiempo que tuvo libre en el hospital le permiten leer con fruicin y reflexionar. Su forma de vida, y por tanto su obra, inicia un nuevo cambio. Pinta incansablemente desde el amanecer hasta altas horas de la noche y realiza la serie que bautiza como Les Disques, y otra sobre hlices, Les Hlices. La situacin social y su preocupacin por los desamparados fue una constante en su vida. La explotacin de los nios en las minas, las injusticias de la guerra y la posguerra, y la vida en una sociedad que no le gustaba, le llevan hacia una ideologa socialista y se afilia al Partido Comunista Francs.
La Noce (La boda) 1911 leo sobre tela 257 x 206 cm Muse national dArt Moderne Centre de cration industrielle Centre Georges Pompidou, Pars Donacin de Alfred Flechtheim, 1937
Lger sigue siendo el Lger de siempre. Aunque su estilo e iconografa estaban muy definidos, la experiencia visual ante las grandes mquinas de guerra cambia su pintura, sin abandonar con ello sus races cezanianas. El cubismo y la guerra conjugan una serie de obras de cuerpos humanos fraccionados, desarticulados, formas humanas que pasan a ser ruedas dentadas, cojinetes de bolas, pistones de motores, o personajes robotizados, como Le Soldat la pipe (130 x 97 cm), de 1919. La fascinacin por la luz ya se intuye en varias de sus obras a partir de 1914, cuando resuelve las formas mecnicas de manera amable, nada agresiva, y aparecen en sus cuadros como estticos iconos de la modernidad, y a la vez, como una paradoja, a diferencia de muchos de los artistas de su poca, marcados en su persona y en su pintura por las terribles visiones de la guerra. Lger (quiz por su capacidad tan positiva de extraer agua incluso de las piedras) afirma pblicamente que la guerra le aport la modernidad y el plasticismo de las mquinas y ampli de forma notable y positiva su conocimiento del ser humano. A partir de 1920 regresan los personajes a su pintura, siempre clasificados y uniformados de acuerdo con su profesin, rodeados y mezclados con elementos industriales. Su inters por la arquitectura le lleva a conocer al arquitecto Le Corbusier con quien establece una fructfera relacin y realiza varios proyectos. La influencia del purismo de Le Corbusier le lleva a formas ms romas y suaves, con colores matizados y, sobre todo, a utilizar el color blanco de forma ms habitual. Muere su madre en 1922 y, a pesar del duro golpe, sigue viviendo uno de sus momentos ms creativos. Realiza carteles, escenografas para teatro, ballet y cine. En 1924 dirige su primera pelcula, Le Ballet mcanique, con fotografa de Man Ray y Dudley Murphy. Su obsesin es sacar el arte a la calle, involucrarlo en la vida cotidiana de la ciudad de forma abierta y directa. Colabora con vidrieros, fundidores, ceramistas y tapiceros. Usa medios artesanales habituales que otorgan a su obra una nueva dimensin. Los colores que utiliza son cada vez ms directos y primarios, y las formas ms planas, que indistintamente
plasma en su pintura y escultura hasta el punto de no hacer distincin entre ellas. En 1935, acompaado en su viaje a Nueva York por Le Corbusier y Simone Herman, presenta en el MOMA, y despus en el Instituto de Arte de Chicago, una retrospectiva con 160 obras que tuvieron gran repercusin artstica en la nueva Meca del arte. El 2 de agosto de 1939 estalla la Segunda Guerra Mundial. La invasin de los nazis y la persecucin de los partidos de izquierda le obligan a huir y esconderse en 1940 en Normanda, y despus en Burdeos y Marsella, donde consigue un visado va Lisboa hacia Estados Unidos. Una vez en Amrica, entra como profesor en la Universidad de Yale junto con Henry Focillon, Andr Maurois y Darius Milhaud. Durante esta estancia en Estados Unidos, vive en casa del escritor John Dos Passos y, poco despus, pinta un gran mural para la Feria Mundial de Nueva York, y varias pinturas murales para el Centro de Aviacin Popular que, al final, no se colgaron. Tambin realiza una escultura para Nelson A. Rockefeller, La Branche Rockefeller, cuyo modelo figura en esta muestra. Regresa a Pars y abre un estudio-taller de cermica dirigido por un antiguo alumno suyo, fiel colaborador durante toda la vida, Roland Brice, tal como hicieron Picasso en Vallauris, Marc Chagall en Vence y Joan Mir en Gallifa. Muchos alumnos solicitan plaza en sus clases, entre ellos, el pintor alemn Erwin Bechtold, a quien Lger considera su mejor alumno. Las muchas peticiones de asistencia, procedentes incluso de jvenes artistas de Estados Unidos que llegaban con becas de estudios, obligan a Lger a ampliar el taller. Sus clases son activas y participativas, trabaja ante los alumnos y realiza sus primeras esculturas en cermica y piedra artificial policromada. Entre 1945 y 1955 trabaja incansablemente en todos los campos. Hace grandes murales cermicos y tambin mosaicos realizados por Heidi Melano, y varios tapices monumentales que trabaja con otra alumna suya, Yvette Cauquil-Prince, como Les Trois Musiciens, de 246 x 238 cm, realizado y ampliado de un original de 1944 donde retrata una pequea or-
Le Soldat la pipe (Soldado con pipa) 1916 leo sobre tela 130 x 97 cm Kunstsammlung NordrheinWestfalen, Dusseldorf Alemania
Le Grand Coq 1952 Cermica policromada 49,5 x 26 cm Ejemplar H.C. 2/3 Coleccin particular, Ginebra Suiza
questa; Les Loisirs sur fond rouge, de 342 x 445 cm, de 1949, donde aparece una familia de acrbatas del circo Medrano del que Lger era asiduo espectador; Les Constructeurs de un original del ao 1950, de 295 x 210 cm, sobre el mundo de los rascacielos en construccin de Nueva York; La Grande Parade sur fond rouge, de 1953, con medidas de 286 x 396 cm, tambin sobre el mundo del circo, y La Partie de campagne, otro tapiz de 300 x 367 cm, de 1954. Todos ellos pueden verse en esta exposicin. Asimismo estn presentes las alegoras a los animales domsticos, que recuerdan la vida de sus primeros aos de granjero, con las esculturas Le Petit Coq o Le Grand Coq, o bien La Branche R y La Branche muse, ramas de rboles que sugieren formas de animales, naturalezas muertas con frutas y elementos caseros. La arquitectura y la influencia de los rascacielos queda latente por los aos vividos en Estados Unidos segn l el mejor espectculo del mundo y la proyeccin de los obreros, trabajando en las estructuras metlicas de los rascacielos en construccin, queda reflejada en la serie de cuadros, cermicas y tapices que denomina Les Constructeurs. Lo sorprendente de estas obras sencillas y humanizadas de la exposicin de la Fontana dOr es su vivacidad y vitalidad. Aparecen desconocidas, frescas e intemporales, vivas y plenas de juventud, como si acabasen de salir del estudio del artista. La mayora de ellas estn realizadas conjuntamente con sus colaboradores y alumnos, ante quienes Lger experimentaba abiertamente en todas las disciplinas. Sus cartones, pinturas, dibujos y pequeas esculturas renacen y se convierten en nuevas obras. Las formas geomtricas se trasladan a las grandes superficies que tanto amaba. El conocimiento y la posibilidad de utilizar tcnicas artesanas y materiales industriales resistentes a la intemperie facilita la produccin de sus obras y favorece enormemente el objetivo del artista: sacar el arte a la calle. Lger, en sus escritos, explica, desde su ideologa, la obligatoria implicacin del artista y su obra en la sociedad, y sus problemas desde su compromiso didctico. Su socialismo romntico, quiz nacido de las vivencias y miserias de la guerra, y el acercar el arte a las
clases populares son una constante en su trayectoria, como en muchos de los grandes artistas. Para ello, Lger trat de realizar una obra de ejecucin sencilla y mensaje directo, y procur escapar del elitismo inherente en la mayora de obras de arte. La muerte le lleg el 17 de agosto de 1955, cuando tena 74 aos. Haca poco que le haban otorgado el premio de la Bienal de Sao Paulo, y tan solo dos aos de su boda con una alumna rusa, Nadia Khodassievitch, con quien viva desde haca tiempo. Lger fue un precursor y tambin el punto de partida para muchos de los futuristas italianos. Pero la diferencia notable entre Lger y los futuristas es que estos ltimos convertan las mquinas en smbolos de veneracin y nuestro bonachn artista, desde su humanismo, trataba de ofrecernos una dimensin nueva. Buscaba hermanar las formas geomtricas y mecnicas o cartesianas con formas orgnicas, ofrecindonos un mundo industrial, humanizado y potico, cuya representacin pintaba con cierta ingenuidad obrerista. Esta visin crtica y romntica de la mquina y los personajes robotizados tambin la encontramos en el cine. Lger coincide con Fritz Lang en la pelcula Metrpolis, un film futurista y robtico del ao 1926, y tambin en Tiempos Modernos, de Charles Chaplin, de 1936, que presenta una crtica dulce sobre el mundo de las grandes empresas durante la Gran Depresin americana de 1929, que sumi a los Estados Unidos en una profunda crisis econmica durante toda la dcada de los treinta y que Lger tambin proyect en sus cuadros. Paralizar el tiempo, captar aquello que se nos escapa, cazar el instante, fue la intencin de Lger, como ha pretendido toda la tradicin de la pintura. Se queja en sus cartas de que siempre le falta tiempo. Hoy, en nuestra aceleracin del tiempo histrico, no es que los aos sean ms cortos, sino que pasan ms cosas en ellos. Lger nos ofrece una sabia leccin, aprender a esperar. Quiz la mejor herencia que nos deja sea el entusiasmo y juventud intemporal que, desde la maestra, nos ofrece su obra. Barcelona, marzo de 2008
1917
Composition mcanique
Tinta china sobre papel 31 x 23 cm Cortesa Fundacin Alorda-Derksen, Barcelona Firmado F. L. / Hop. Villepinte en la parte inferior derecha
Bibliografa: Nord-Sud Revue littraire. 14 de abril de 1918. Acompaando al poema de Pierre Reverdy Plus profond. Derouet, Christian. Le Cabinet des dessins Lger. Aquarelles et gouaches. Flammarion. Pars, 1997. Pgina 8.
Composition mcanique (1917) pertenece a la etapa de 19141920, durante la Primera Guerra Mundial, tambin denominada periodo mecnico por la historiadora de arte y especialista en Lger, Beth Handler. En la parte inferior derecha, la obra presenta una inscripcin, Hop. Villepinte (Hospital Villepinte), al lado de las iniciales F. L. con las que el artista firma; es decir, Lger pint esta obra mientras se encontraba convaleciente de las lesiones producidas por la explosin de una bomba de gas en el frente de Verdn. Poco despus fue declarado intil para el ejrcito. En esta composicin, la mquina es la verdadera protagonista, aunque, si la compa-
ramos con obras posteriores como Les lments mcaniques (1923) o lments mcaniques (1924), la diferencia es que, mientras en la obra de 1917 la estructura compositiva es propia de un cubismo ms ortodoxo o purista, donde los elementos mecnicos aparecen superpuestos creando una obra con poco volumen y profundidad ms propia de Picasso, Gris o Braque, en las obras de 1923 y 1924 estos elementos se desprenden del fondo y adquieren profundidad y perspectiva, llegando incluso a convertirse en areos. Dan forma, as, a una de las caractersticas ms notables de la obra de Lger, la disposicin de objetos en el espacio, que le distancia definitivamente del cubismo clsico.
Obras relacionadas:
Les lments mcaniques 1923 Lpiz sobre papel 29,2 x 24,2 cm Coleccin particular, Estados Unidos
lments mcaniques 1924 Lpiz sobre papel 31,9 x 24 cm Muse national dArt moderne Centre de cration industrielle Centre Georges Pompidou, Pars Francia
14
1925
Femme au vase
Aguada, acuarela y mina de plomo sobre papel 31,5 x 24 cm Cortesa Fundacin Alorda-Derksen, Barcelona Firmado y fechado F. L / 25 en la parte inferior derecha
Bibliografa: Aparecer reproducido en el catlogo razonado en preparacin de la obra sobre papel de Fernand Lger: Hansma, Irus. Oeuvres sur papier de Fernand Lger. Pars.
Lger pint esta obra en el mismo ao en el que dirigi la pelcula Le Ballet mcanique, con fotografa de Man Ray y Dudley Murphy, y msica de George Antheil. Este periodo (19251932) se caracteriza por la monumentalidad y el ritmo de los objetos en el espacio. En Femme au vase, Lger presenta el jarrn como si se tratara de una columna clsica. La inclusin de elementos arquitectnicos en sus obras es influencia de Le Corbusier, a quien Lger conoci en 1920 y con quien entabl una buena amistad. El purismo de las formas del arquitecto influy en Lger, plasmado en la
columna de corte clsico, un elemento iconogrfico que aparece en muchas de sus pinturas posteriores, como Le Mouvement billes de 1926. El tratamiento de monumentalidad que otorga tanto a la columna-jarrn como a la mujer que la sostiene, es una de las caractersticas ms importantes de este periodo. La figura humana es de corte clsico y proporciones monumentales, realizada con trazos rotundos, una particularidad que, despus de la dcada de los aos veinte, se convierte en una constante en su trayectoria artstica, como podemos apreciar en Nu sur fond rouge de 1927.
Obras relacionadas:
Le Mouvement billes 1926 leo sobre tela 146 x 114 cm ffentliche Kunstsammlung Basel, Kunstmuseum, Suiza Donado por Dr. H. C. Raoul La Roche
Nu sur fond rouge 1927 leo sobre tela 130,1 x 81,4 cm Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC, EE. UU. Donado por la Joseph H. Hirshhorn Foundation en 1972
1944
Les Trois Musiciens

Tapiz 246 x 230 cm Coleccin particular, Nueva York. Realizado en el taller de Lger por Yvette Cauquil-Prince, alumna de Lger, a partir de la pintura Les Trois Musiciens 19241944 Firmado a la izquierda F. Lger y con el anagrama del taller de tapices a la derecha
Bibliografa: Forestier, Sylvie. LArt monumental de Fernand Lger. Exposicin Lger Monumental en Les Abattoirs de Toulouse. 5 Continents Editions. Miln, 2005. Pgina 34. Brunhammer, Yvonne. Lger loeuvre monumental. 5 Continents Editions. Miln, 2005. Pgina 187. Exposiciones: Lger. Nassau Country Museum, Nueva York. Enero - marzo 1999. Reproducido en la pgina 43 del catlogo.
Tapiz realizado por Yvette Cauquil-Prince, una de las mejores creadoras de tapices del siglo xx y alumna aventajada del taller de Lger. La artista realiz tapices para Chagall y tambin aquellos que la familia Rockefeller encarg a Picasso y que todava cuelgan de las paredes de su residencia familiar. La obra se realiz a partir de la pintura sobre tela Les Trois Musiciens que Lger fech entre 1924, ao de sus primeros dibujos preparatorios, y 1944, cuando finalmente termin la pintura. Existen diferencias sustanciales entre la pintura y el tapiz. Mientras en la pintura el artista presenta al grupo de msicos dentro de una composicin colorista donde predominan el rojo y el amarillo dividiendo el fondo de la pintura, en el tapiz la gama cromtica es mucho ms austera, con tonos blancos y negros y algunas sombras marrones. Si bien la composicin geomtrica de ambas piezas es esencialmente la misma, existen variaciones tanto en las posturas de los personajes como en los instrumentos de los msicos.
Lger se encuentra ya en su periodo americano de 19401945, durante el cual el artista muestra su admiracin por Estados Unidos, pas al que l mismo define como el mejor espectculo del mundo. Lger concede mucha importancia al tratamiento de la ropa de los personajes y que utiliza para dar expresividad a sus obras. En la pintura de los msicos sita a los tres personajes sobre un fondo vibrante de colores llamativos, donde resalta el color rojo, verde y naranja de sus vestidos. Los msicos es un tema muy recurrente en otras vanguardias como el cubismo, pero Lger consigue abstraer una faceta distinta: la social. Lo ms importante es el aspecto social del mundo obrero, es decir, estudiar y reflejar en sus obras cules son las actividades de ocio y festivas que practican los trabajadores en su tiempo libre. Segn el artista, sin ocio es imposible que los trabajadores puedan disfrutar del arte.
Obra relacionada:
Les Trois Musiciens 19241944 leo sobre tela 174 x 145,4 cm Coleccin Museum of Modern Art, Nueva York Donado por la Simon Guggenheim Foundation en 1955
18
1949
Les Loisirs sur fond rouge

Tapiz 342 x 445 cm Coleccin particular, Nueva York Realizado en el taller de Lger por Yvette Cauquil-Prince, alumna de Lger, a partir de la pintura Les Loisirs de 19441949 Firmado a la derecha F. Lger y con el anagrama del taller de tapices a la izquierda (P
Bibliografa: Forestier, Sylvie. LArt monumental de Fernand Lger. Exposicin Lger monumental en Les Abattoirs de Toulouse. 5 Continents Editions. Miln, 2005. Brunhammer, Yvonne. Lger loeuvre monumental. 5 Continents Editions. Miln, 2005. Pgina 196.
Tapiz realizado por Yvette Cauquil-Prince a partir de la pintura sobre tela Les Loisirs, de 19441949. En esta ocasin slo existe una diferencia entre ambas creaciones: la planta que cubre el pie derecho del personaje recostado no aparece en la pintura. La temtica principal de las dos obras (Les Loisirs y Les Loisirs sur fond rouge) es una familia de acrbatas, un tema que apasionaba a Lger. Lger empez esta obra durante el periodo de su estancia en Amrica (19401945) y la termin en 1949; por este motivo se pueden apreciar algunas diferencias respecto a obras anteriores de temtica circense. Mientras en La Grande Julie, de 1944, Lger nos presenta una famosa acrbata con su bicicleta en un escenario no real formado por superficies de color y formas abstractas, en Les Loisirs sur fond rouge, la escena est compuesta por
una familia de acrbatas de seis personajes y dos bicicletas (la de la izquierda es la misma que aparece en La Grande Julie) en un paisaje rural. Lger sugiere un paraje natural con elementos esenciales como una valla, una nube que flota en el espacio, piedras y flores. El cielo, de un color rojo artificial, se aleja de la parte descriptiva y narrativa de la obra. Las figuras se simplifican mediante la combinacin de bloques de colores llamativos y los planos que los circundan. Les Loisirs sur fond rouge conserva parte de la tendencia abstracta de La Grande Julie, pero es tambin una pintura de gnero, porque pretende describir una actividad de ocio de la clase obrera utilizando para ello la temtica circense y, a la vez, por su implicacin en los problemas sociales de la poca que tanto interesaron al artista.
Obras relacionadas:
Les Loisirs 19441949 leo sobre tela 65 x 92 cm Coleccin particular, Nueva York
La Grande Julie 1944 leo sobre tela 111,8 x 127,3 cm The Museum of Modern Art, Nueva York Adquirido del legado de Lillie P. Bliss en 1945
22
1950
Les Constructeurs
Tapiz 295 x 210 cm Coleccin particular, Nueva York Realizado en el taller de Lger por Yvette Cauquil-Prince, alumna de Lger, a partir de la pintura Les Constructeurs de 1950 Firmado abajo a la derecha F. Lger y con el anagrama del taller de tapices a la izquierda (P
Bibliografa: Forestier, Sylvie. LArt monumental de Fernand Lger. Exposicin Lger Monumental en Les Abattoirs de Toulouse. 5 Continents Editions. Miln, 2005. Pgina 35. Bauquier, Georges. Fernand Lger. Vivre dans le vrai. A. Maeght diteur Pars, 2003. Pgina 285. Brunhammer, Yvonne. Lger loeuvre monumental. 5 Continents Editions. Miln, 2005. Pgina 190. Exposiciones: Lger. Nassau Country Museum, Nueva York. Enero marzo 1999. Reproducido en la pgina 43 del catlogo.
Tapiz de grandes dimensiones realizado a partir de la pintura Les Constructeurs, tat dfinitif de 1950. El tapiz tiene las mismas caractersticas que la pintura, incluso las mismas dimensiones. En ambas composiciones se mantienen las nubes y las cuerdas de los dibujos preparatorios anteriores, como Le Profil la corde, tude pour les constructeurs de 1950, aunque al prolongar la longitud de la cuerda que rodea las vigas, la convierte en un armazn que parece proteger la estructura metlica. Los trabajadores aparecen en plena actividad laboral, aunque inmviles e impasibles. Sus cuerpos rgidos y musculosos forman parte de la tensa composicin constructiva, en la que los brazos de los cuatro personajes aparecen de forma decidida en un destacado primer plano. Las rayas y los motivos de las camisetas de los obreros son una continuacin del modelo que el artista utiliza para pintar las vigas. Las formas curvas de los personajes establecen un claro contraste con la rigidez geomtrica de las vigas de la estructura del edificio. El hombre y la estructura de hierro aparecen distanciados, aunque, al mismo tiempo, contrapuestos. Mientras en las primeras obras,
Lger hace una exaltacin de la mquina, aqu representa las duras condiciones y la peligrosidad del trabajo adems del ambiente industrial rgido de la cruda realidad americana. En la obra utiliza tambin la naturaleza como alivio ante este mundo tan industrial, como las ramas inventadas que pinta debajo de los pies de los constructores. En su pintura-poema Les Mains, hommage Maakovski de 1951, Lger establece una clara sinonimia entre los trabajadores modernos y la naturaleza a partir del poema de Evgueni Yevtushenko: Sus pantalones son como montaas, como troncos de rboles. Sus manos son como las herramientas que utilizan / Sus herramientas son como sus manos... Ellos son diferentes de sus superiores... Pero se acerca el tiempo en el que las mquinas trabajarn para ellos / Ellos tendrn manos como sus patrones / por qu no. Les Constructeurs muestra no solamente la visin romntica y esperanzadora del mundo obrero o tecnolgico, sino tambin de la sociedad y la poltica del momento.
Obras relacionadas: Les Constructeurs 1950 leo sobre tela 300 x 228 cm Coleccin Muse national Fernand Lger, Biot Francia Le Profil la corde: tude pour les Constructeurs 1950 Tinta y lpiz sobre papel 64,5 x 49,7 cm Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edimburgo Escocia.
1952
Le Tournesol
Cermica policromada 165 x 132 cm Coleccin particular, Ontario Canad Realizada en el taller de Lger por su alumno ceramista Claude Brice Firmada en la parte inferior del pie F. Lger
Bibliografa: Forestier, Sylvie. LArt monumental de Fernand Lger. Exposicin Lger monumental en Les Abattoirs de Toulouse. 5 Continents Editions. Miln 2005. Pgina 40. Brunhammer, Yvonne. Lger loeuvre monumental. 5 Continents Editions. Miln, 2005. Pgina 137. Muse national Fernand Lger. Lger et la cramique. Ministre de la Culture et de la Communication. Biot, 2000. Pgina 62. Exposiciones: Lger. Nassau Country Museum, Nueva York EE. UU. Enero marzo 1999. Reproducido en la pgina 45 del catlogo. Fernand Lger, Mosaics and Ceramic Sculptures. Lungmen Art Gallery, Taipei. Abril agosto 1999. Fernand Lger. Union des Banques Suisses, Ginebra Suiza. Abril junio 2002. Lger monumental. Fundaci Caixa Girona, Jardines de Cap Roig, Girona. Junio septiembre 2002. Reproducido en la pgina 19 del catlogo.
Lger cre Le Tournesol durante el ltimo periodo, 19461955, poca en la que realiz la mayora de esculturas y relieves de gran formato. Poco antes de empezar la Segunda Guerra Mundial, Roland Brice, antiguo alumno de Lger, regres al taller del artista, pero no fue hasta despus del ao 1949 que, junto con su hijo Claude, se convertiran en los maestros ceramistas de toda la obra escultrica de Lger. Al principio, las cermicas que salan del taller eran modestas y de pequeas dimensiones, aunque rpidamente el afn por socializar el arte y llevarlo a la calle le llev a realizar obras de proporciones monumentales como Femmes au perroquet o La Grande Fleur qui marche, a partir de pinturas o dibujos de pequeo formato. Sobre el original realizaban un modelado en tierra roja que el artista revisaba y correga; despus, la cermica se modelaba y se coca a ms de 1000 C. El proyecto se pintaba a la aguada y, siguiendo las indicaciones de Lger, los ceramistas lo convertan en esmalte.
Las plantas y las flores no eran una temtica exclusiva del ltimo periodo de Lger, ya que durante la dcada de los aos veinte y treinta, en muchas de sus pinturas substitua la figura humana por plantas que flotaban en el espacio como cuerpos etreos sobre un fondo de color intenso. En Feuille de houx sur fond rouge (1928) el movimiento que el artista transmite a las hojas que flotan en el espacio contrasta con la pesadez de los cuerpos humanos de otras obras, aunque la carencia de este peso espacial realzaba su objetividad. El personaje principal en sus cermicas monumentales es el girasol (Le Tournesol) que utiliz en formatos y ocasiones diferentes. Mientras que en la obra que analizamos, Lger nos presenta a la flor en su postura clsica, buscando la luz del sol, en la Grande Fleur qui marche aparece un girasol en movimiento, en un gesto que indica que empieza a andar, y con unas caractersticas estticas que nos recuerdan el mundo del cmic o las obras del Pop Art americano. En estas esculturas de gran formato, Lger sigue siendo fiel a los colores llamativos: el amarillo, el rojo, el verde, el naranja o el azul.
Obra relacionada:
Feuille de houx sur fond rouge 1928 leo sobre tela 92 x 65 cm Coleccin particular, Pars Francia
1952
La Branche R (Rockefeller)
Cermica policromada 56 x 47 cm Ejemplar H. C. 1/3 Coleccin particular, La Garriga (Barcelona) Realizada por F. Lger en el taller de su alumno ceramista, Claude Brice Firmada en la parte inferior de la base F. Lger H.C.1/3
Bibliografa: Forestier, Sylvie. LArt monumental de Fernand Lger. Exposicin Lger monumental en Les Abattoirs de Toulouse. 5 Continents Editions. Miln, 2005. Pgina 40. Brunhammer, Yvonne. Lger loeuvre monumental. 5 Continents Editions. Miln, 2005. Pgina 164. Muse national Fernand Lger. Lger et la cramique. Ministre de la Culture et de la Communication. Biot, 2000. Pgina 37. Exposiciones: Lger. Nassau Country Museum, Nueva York. Enero marzo 1999. Reproducido en la pgina 45 del catlogo. Fernand Lger, Mosaics and Ceramic Sculptures. Lungmen Art Gallery, Taipei. Abril agosto 1999. Fernand Lger. Union des Banques Suisses, Ginebra Suiza. Abril junio 2002.
El significado y dinamismo de esta rama, representada con una cabeza de gallo cantando, hacen de esta escultura una de las ms significativas del conjunto de obras que Lger realiz en el taller de Claude Brice. La idea de esta escultura naci de un mural del ao 1939 que Nelson A. Rockefeller encarg a Lger para decorar la chimenea de su apartamento en Nueva York. El mural fue realizado con la colaboracin de Brice y del arquitecto Wallace K. Harrison. El elemento principal del mural es una rama de rbol que aparece en primer trmino, y a cuyo alrededor gira toda la composicin, formada otros elementos arbreos y formas abstractas que flotan en el espacio. La decoracin de la chimenea gust tanto a Rockefeller que le pidi al artista francs que realizara una escultura de dicha rama, que repetimos no es una rama, sino una cabeza de gallo cantando. De ah naci la escultura La Branche R, que Lger titul con la inicial del multimillonario americano.
Si la comparamos con otras pinturas cuyo motivo central son las ramas, como en Les Troncs darbres de 1931, observaremos que en esta pintura las ramas parecen partes descompuestas y rotas de un cuerpo humano que flota en un color grisceo sobre un fondo naranja; en Le Tronc darbre sur fond jaune de 1945, la rama de rbol est rodeada de elementos abstractos de colores llamativos, sin embargo sigue teniendo aunque no resulta tan evidente como en el ejemplo anterior un aire de decadencia y de tristeza. En ambos casos, los elementos arbreos sugieren una naturaleza tosca, emborronada y hasta cierto punto agresiva para el espectador, mientras que La Branche R surge majestuosa con la elegancia de un gallo lanzando su grito al aire: una figura dinmica y exaltada que, junto con los colores esmaltados, ofrece al espectador la sensacin de una naturaleza enfadada, como de aquel que lleva la razn.
Obras relacionadas:
Le Tronc darbre sur fond jaune 1945 leo sobre tela 112 x 127 cm Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art. Edimburgo Escocia
Chemine de lappartement de Nelson Rockefeller 1939 Relieve de cermica policromada. 282 x 183 cm Nueva York EE. UU.
Les Troncs darbres 1931 leo sobre tela 92 x 65 cm Coleccin privada Donacin a la ciudad de Belfort Francia
1952
La Branche muse
Cermica policromada 69 x 38 cm Ejemplar H. C. 2/3 Coleccin Fundaci Caixa Girona, Girona Realizada en el taller de Lger por su alumno ceramista, Claude Brice Firmada en la parte inferior del pie F. Lger y numerada H. C. 2/3
Bibliografa: Forestier, Sylvie. LArt monumental de Fernand Lger. Exposicin Lger monumental en Les Abattoirs de Toulouse. 5 Continents Editions. Miln, 2005. Pgina 40. Brunhammer, Yvonne. Lger loeuvre monumental. 5 Continents Editions. Miln, 2005. Muse National Fernand Lger. Lger et la cramique. Ministre de la Culture et de la Communication. Biot, 2000. Pgina 37. Exposiciones: Lger. Nassau Country Museum, Nueva York EE. UU. Enero marzo 1999. Reproducido en la pgina 45 del catlogo. Fernand Lger, Mosaics and Ceramic Sculptures. Lungmen Art Gallery, Taipei. Abril agosto 1999. Fernand Lger. Union des Banques Suisses, Ginebra Suiza. Abril junio 2002. Lger monumental. Fundaci Caixa Girona, Jardines de Cap Roig, Girona. Junio septiembre 2002. Reproducido en la pgina 57 del catlogo.
La escultura La Branche muse fue creada en el ao 1952 por Lger y Claude Brice. Posiblemente naci a partir de algn elemento que inspir las pinturas lments sur fond bleu y Racines sur fond bleu de 1941 y la famosa serie de Paysages anims de 1937. Lger senta un gran afecto por esta escultura, como mencion en varias ocasiones. El artista consideraba que, a partir de las formas abstractas de la escultura, haba conseguido crear una composicin equilibrada de una gran riqueza expresiva. No dud en ponerle el nombre de la rama museo o la rama museogrfica, por la importancia que supona en su trayectoria artstica. Las diferencias con la pintura son mnimas, slo cromticas: en la pintura al leo el fondo es azul, el volumen que envuelve la rama central es de color negro y
la rama es roja, en cambio, en la escultura, la rama es amarilla y el volumen exterior es de color azul. Podemos apreciar otra diferencia cromtica en el tono de los colores: en la pintura es ms apagado, y en el caso de la escultura, es ms vivo y brillante. No obstante, una de las caractersticas ms importantes y que ms enorgullecan al artista es que, con la escultura, consigui que las formas se movieran en el espacio, un recurso plstico que utiliz frecuentemente a lo largo de su trayectoria artstica, como podemos apreciar en sus pinturas de los aos treinta. En La Branche muse, el juego de profundidad que crean los espacios entre las ramas consigue que el espacio se erija en protagonista y logre ser el artfice que proporciona dinamismo a la escultura.
Obras relacionadas:
Elements sur fond bleu (Racines sur fond bleu) 1941 leo sobre tela 175 x 101,5 cm Coleccin Adrien Maeght, Pars
Nadia y Fernand Lger con La Branche muse Biot, 1955.
1952
Jardin denfants
Cermica policromada 55 x 71 cm Ejemplar H. C. 2/3 Coleccin particular, Ginebra Suiza Realizada en el taller de Lger por su alumno ceramista, Claude Brice Firmada en la base F. Lger y numerada H. C. 2/3
Bibliografa: Forestier, Sylvie. LArt monumental de Fernand Lger. Exposicin Lger monumental en Les Abattoirs de Toulouse. 5 Continents Editions. Miln, 2005. Pgina 42. Brunhammer, Yvonne. Lger loeuvre monumental. 5 Continents Editions. Miln, 2005. Pgina 164. Muse national Fernand Lger. Lger et la cramique. Ministre de la Culture et de la Communication. Biot, 2000. Pgina 39. Exposiciones: Lger. Nassau Country Museum, Nueva York EE. UU. Enero marzo 1999. Reproducido en la pgina 45 del catlogo. 20th Century Sculpture. Nassau Country Museum, Nueva York EE. UU. Marzo mayo 1999. Lger monumental. Fundaci Caixa Girona, Jardines de Cap Roig, Girona. Junio septiembre 2002. Reproducido en la pgina 57 del catlogo.
La maqueta de escultura realizada en el taller de Claude Brice en 1952 se llev a cabo en un definitivo proyecto monumental con Georges Bauquier y Nadia Lger en 1960 para los Jardines del Museo Nacional Fundacin Fernand Lger en Biot (Francia). La escultura mide 6 metros de altura y la componen 5 elementos que recuerdan la serie Araignes de 1938. Las formas abstractas que emergen de la base sugieren elementos naturales que aparecen anteriormente en muchos de sus cuadros. En la pintura Avion dans le ciel, 19391952, observamos tres formas alargadas que emulan rboles; las mismas que despus retoma para los dibujos preparatorios del mural de la ONU del ao 1952. En uno de ellos podemos ver,
adems de estas figuras alargadas, una forma abstracta parecida a una flor que se repite en la estructura. Uno de los aspectos que interesa a Lger, sobre todo en sus ltimas obras, es la socializacin del arte: acercar al gran pblico ese arte que las vanguardias artsticas, excesivamente teorizadas, haban alejado con el tiempo. Su idea es que el espectador se acerque, se implique en el arte que est viendo a modo de juego y consiga despertar al nio que todos llevamos dentro desde el aspecto ldico de la obra. Lger nos sugiere regresar a ese jardn de infancia y rechazar los prejuicios que hemos ido acumulando y que tanto condicionan nuestro modo de actuar impidindonos, en muchas ocasiones, disfrutar de aquello que nos rodea.
Obras relacionadas:
Avion dans le ciel 193952 leo sobre tela 60 x 92 cm Coleccin Muse national Fernand Lger, Biot Francia
tude num. 5 para el proyecto de mural de la Asamblea General de la ONU 195255 Aguada y acuarela sobre papel. 33,4 x 25,2 cm Coleccin Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire EE. UU.
tude num. 8 para el proyecto de mural de la Asamblea General de la ONU 195255 Aguada y acuarela sobre papel. 33,4 x 25,2 cm Coleccin Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire EE. UU.
36
1952
Le Grand Coq
Cermica policromada 49,5 x 26 cm Ejemplar H. C. 2/3 Coleccin particular, Ginebra Suiza Realizada por F. Lger en el taller de su alumno ceramista, Claude Brice Firmada en la base F. Lger y numerada bajo la base H.C. 2/3
El estudio histrico de la obra se encuentra en la pgina 40 del catlogo.
38
1952
Le Petit Coq
Cermica 38 x 27 cm Ejemplar H. C. 2/3 Coleccin particular, Ginebra Suiza Realizada por F. Lger en el taller de su alumno ceramista, Claude Brice Firmada en la base F. Lger y numerada debajo de la base H.C. 2/3
Bibliografa: Forestier, Sylvie. LArt monumental de Fernand Lger. Exposicin Lger monumental en Les Abattoirs de Toulouse. 5 Continents Editions. Miln, 2005. Pgina 39 y 38. Brunhammer, Yvonne. Lger loeuvre monumental. 5 Continents Editions. Miln, 2005. Pgina 165. Muse national Fernand Lger. Lger et la cramique. Ministre de la Culture et de la Communication. Biot, 2000. Pgina 61. Exposiciones: Lger. Nassau Country Museum, Nueva York EE. UU. Enero marzo 1999. Reproducido en la pgina 45 del catlogo. Fernand Lger, Mosaics and Ceramic Sculptures. Lungmen Art Gallery, Taipei. Abril agosto 1999. Fernand Lger. Union des Banques Suisses, Ginebra Suiza. Abril junio 2002. Lger monumental. Fundaci Caixa Girona, Jardines de Cap Roig, Girona. Junio septiembre 2002. Reproducido en la pgina 61 del catlogo.
Las obras Le Grand Coq y Le Petit Coq, de 1952, pertenecen a su ltima etapa 19461955. Tambin se realizaron en el taller de Claude Brice. Lger naci en la regin francesa de Normanda, donde vivi hasta los diecisiete aos, en la granja de su familia. El entorno campesino y los animales de la granja se convirtieron en un recuerdo indeleble en sus ltimos aos y marcaron su trayectoria artstica. En la granja se dedicaba a observar con atencin y a dibujar principalmente gallos y gallinas. Fruto de esta observacin surge una serie de leos sobre
tela, con gallos y gallinas como tema principal, y que Lger compone con formas estilizadas que rozan la abstraccin. Esta serie est formada por diversas variaciones de colores vivos como el azul, el rojo y el amarillo. Destacan obras como Le Coq bleu, La Poule blanche y Le Coq rouge, todas ellas de 1937. En Le Grand Coq y Le Petit Coq, los animales aparecen casi abstractos; slo algunas formas de la escultura recuerdan el pico y la cresta del animal. Tambin el color rojo sugiere su color natural. Las obras son muy dinmicas y, con ellas, Lger consigue esa inocencia infantil con la que pretende acercarse al espectador.
40
1952
La Baigneuse
Relieve en bronce 37 x 44 cm Coleccin particular, Barcelona Ejemplar 3/8 Realizado en la fundicin de Claude Valsuani Firmado en la parte inferior izquierda F. Lger, y en la parte derecha, con el sello del taller de fundicin y numerada 3/8
Bibliografa: Forestier, Sylvie. LArt monumental de Fernand Lger. Exposicin Lger monumental en Les Abattoirs de Toulouse. 5 Continents Editions. Miln, 2005. Pgina 40. Brunhammer, Yvonne. Lger loeuvre monumental. 5 Continents Editions. Miln, 2005. Exposiciones: Lger. Nassau Country Museum, Nueva York EE. UU. Enero marzo 1999. Reproducido en la pgina 45 del catlogo. Fernand Lger, Mosaics and Ceramic Sculptures. Lungmen Art Gallery, Taipei. Abril agosto 1999. Fernand Lger. Union des Banques Suisses, Ginebra Suiza. Abril junio 2002.
La Baigneuse es uno de los escasos relieves en bronce de Lger, a pesar de que el artista realiz varias esculturas en bronce de grandes dimensiones. Para el vaciado de la pieza se utiliz la tcnica de la cera perdida en la prestigiosa Fundicin Valsuani (18991970) de Pars donde artistas como Picasso, Gauguin o Renoir llevaban a fundir sus obras. La principal caracterstica de las piezas que salan de Valsuani era la perfeccin de su acabado reflejada en los pequeos detalles y en la ptina tan elegante y fina. El tema de la mujer en el bao ha inspirado a muchos artistas a lo largo de toda la historia del arte. El propio Lger escribi que, cuando viva en Pars, acuda frecuentemente al museo del Louvre para admirar las obras de los grandes maestros, particularmente La Baigneuse (1808) de Ingres, una de las pinturas ms emblemticas de la serie de baistas que pint durante su estancia en Roma (18061820), influenciado en gran medida por el mundo clsico.
Lo que ms cautiv a Lger de esta obra fue la belleza perfecta alcanzada por Ingres mediante curvas sinuosas, contornos y colores refinados y la monumentalidad que adquiere la figura femenina. Otros artistas contemporneos de Lger usaron con maestra el mismo tema: Czanne con Les Grandes Baigneuses, de 19001905, y Picasso con Les Baigneuses, de 1918. La Baigneuse de Lger es una obra de gran monumentalidad, conseguida con el tratamiento que daba al cuerpo femenino: una baista que parece flotar en este espacio abstracto el mar tan caracterstico de sus obras de los aos veinte y treinta. Lger rompe la sensacin de pesadez que transmite el bronce, y le da dinamismo y movimiento mediante el recurso de multiplicar las extremidades superiores de la figura hasta cinco brazos. Esta reiteracin para aportar movimiento a figuras estticas fue muy utilizada por los futuristas italianos.
42
19521953
Composition aux fruits

Relieve en bronce 63 x 52 cm Coleccin particular, Barcelona Ejemplar 4/8 Realizado en la Fundicin Claude Valsuani Firmado en la parte inferior izquierda F. Lger, y en la parte derecha, con el sello de la fundicin y numerada 4/8
Bibliografa: Forestier, Sylvie. LArt monumental de Fernand Lger. Exposicin Lger monumental en Les Abattoirs de Toulouse. 5 Continents Editions. Miln, 2005. Pgina 40. Brunhammer, Yvonne. Lger loeuvre monumental. 5 Continents Editions. Miln, 2005. Pgina 137. Exposiciones: Lger. Nassau Country Museum, Nueva York EE. UU. Enero marzo 1999. Reproducido en la pgina 45 del catlogo. Fernand Lger, Mosaics and Ceramic Sculptures. Lungmen Art Gallery, Taipei. Abril agosto 1999 Fernand Lger. Union des Banques Suisses, Ginebra Suiza. Abril junio 2002.
Un ao antes de morir prematuramente, Lger manifest, durante un encuentro con Henry Laurens, un gran inters en modelar esculturas de bronce. Segn el relato del ayudante de Laurens, Marc Leroy, Lger hizo muchas preguntas a Laurens sobre las distintas tcnicas para conseguir la mxima permanencia de sus obras. Lger acept gustosamente la sugerencia de Laurens de utilizar la tcnica de la cera perdida, que consiste en modelar la escultura en una nica pieza sin tener limitar la complejidad de la misma. Segn Leroy, Laurens termin la conversacin entusiasmado con los planes de Lger y se preguntaba si las obras resultantes se podran comparar con las ltimas esculturas de Picasso, a propsito de las cuales Lger tambin haba preguntado. La mayora de los relieves realizados por Lger estaban diseados para grandes murales
y, sobre todo, para ser hechos con cermica. Slo en ocasiones puntuales realiz murales en bronce que resolva tcnicamente con su fundidor Valsuani mediante una divisin de paneles para facilitar su fundicin, colocacin y transporte. Las obras se moldeaban primeramente en barro, se vaciaban en escayola y, seguidamente, se volvan a vaciar en cera, para hacer posible el molde para el vaciado final en bronce. En Composition aux fruits, Lger juega con una constante en su obra: la utilizacin de formas abstractas, frutas y formas orgnicas. Una vez ms, podemos apreciar en su obra la bsqueda del hermanamiento entre el mundo cartesiano y el mundo natural u orgnico. Conseguir una relacin plstica que aunara fuerza y ternura con armona y entendimiento era su ley.
Obra relacionada:
Composition 1923 1927 leo sobre tela 128,3 x 97,1 cm Coleccin Philadelphia Museum of Art EE. UU. Donacin de AE Gallatin Collection
44
1954
La Grande Parade sur fond rouge

Tapiz 296 x 386 cm Realizado por Yvette Cauquil-Prince, alumna del taller de Lger, a partir de la pintura La Grande Parade, tat definitif de 1954 Firmado en la parte inferior derecha F. Lger y con el anagrama del taller de tapices (P
Bibliografa: Forestier, Sylvie. LArt monumental de Fernand Lger. Exposicin Lger Monumental en Les Abattoirs de Toulouse. 5 Continents Editions. Miln, 2005. Brunhammer, Yvonne. Lger loeuvre monumental. 5 Continents Editions. Miln, 2005. Pgina 193. Exposiciones: Lger. Nassau Country Museum, Nueva York EE. UU. Enero marzo 1999. Reproducido en la pgina 43 del catlogo.
En este tapiz de grandes dimensiones, Lger regresa a un mundo por el que senta gran pasin: el circo. La composicin circular de la obra es una propuesta alternativa y un ataque a los principios rectilneos de la vida moderna. Lger escribi al respecto: El mundo es redondo, todo es redondo... y nada es... tan redondo como el circo. El circo era para l un espectculo, donde cada da, en cualquier momento, podan suceder fenmenos inesperados y extraordinarios. Consideraba el circo como una maravilla natural que permita respirar al espectador en un mundo excesivamente pragmtico. Lger animaba diciendo: Dejen los rectngulos, las ventanas geomtricas, y celebren la fiesta general de los crcu-
los en accin. A diferencia de algunas obras de los aos treinta, en La Grande Parade sur fond rouge el artista rechaza la solidez de la figura mediante la disociacin entre la lnea y la forma. El resultado es una extraordinaria rotacin de personajes, animales y objetos. Del circo, le atrae la investigacin de los hbitos de entretenimiento popular que traslada a sus obras ms importantes. La nica diferencia entre el tapiz y la pintura es el color utilizado. Mientras que en la pintura las figuras y los elementos son naranjas, azules, rojos y amarillos, sobre fondo gris, en el tapiz predomina el blanco y el negro sobre fondo rojo intenso que nos recuerda el campo de Les Loisirs.
Obras relacionadas:
La Grande Parade, tat definitif 1954 leo sobre tela 299 x 400 cm Coleccin Salomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Nueva York EE. UU.
46
1954
La Partie de campagne
Tapiz 300 x 367 cm Realizado en el taller de Yvette Cauquil-Prince, alumna de Lger, a partir de la pintura La Partie de campagne, 1er tat de 195253 Firmado en la parte inferior derecha F. Lger y con el anagrama del taller de tapices (P a la izquierda
Bibliografa: Forestier, Sylvie LArt monumental de Fernand Lger. Exposicin Lger monumental en Les Abattoirs de Toulouse. 5 Continents Editions. Miln, 2005. Brunhammer, Yvonne. Lger loeuvre monumental. 5 Continents Editions. Miln, 2005. Pgina 193. Exposiciones: Lger. Nassau Country Museum, Nueva York EE. UU. Enero marzo 1999. Reproducido en la pgina 43 del catlogo.
Cuando Lger dice Cuando pinto busco relaciones constructivas, pretende aligerar la carga condicionante que conlleva el pentagrama ineludible de cualquier composicin. Lger, en su exploracin, abre su propio camino hacia la libertad. Picasso nos dice en otro momento: Yo no pinto de la naturaleza, trabajo con la misma naturaleza. Lger escribi en 1950: Un roble puede ser destruido en veinte segundos, pero tarda un siglo en crecer. Desde muy joven intenta ver el mundo desde la perspectiva del amor y el respeto hacia todos los seres vivos. Una ideologa, el ecologismo, muy comentada hoy en da, pero insuficientemente practicada.
En el tapiz La Partie de campagne, la exaltacin del entorno natural est latente, como un descanso del trabajo que postula la estabilidad de la naturaleza, contra los cambios forzados de la tecnologa. Sorprende la relacin constructiva y el ritmo de las formas abstractas que sita en segundo trmino a los personajes, los cuales descansan buclicamente en el campo. Los azules triangulan el espacio, mientras que el crculo amarillo, atravesado por el verde y las formas rojas y naranjas, gira flotando en el espacio, de una manera que Robert Delaunay se afana por conseguir y Lger alcanza con esplendor.
Obras relacionadas:
La Partie de campagne, 1er tat 19521953 leo sobre tela 114 x 146 cm Coleccin particular, Nueva York EE. UU.
48
JULES FERNAND HENRI LGER Cronologa

1881 El 4 de febrero nace en Argentan Jules Fernand Henri Lger, hijo de Henri-Armand Lger, comerciante de ganado, y de Marie-Adle Daunou. 1884 El 15 de febrero, Henri-Armand Lger muere inesperadamente. 18901896 Estudios en el colegio Mzeray de Argentan; sus amigos son Andr Mare, futuro pintor, y Henri Viel. Interno en el centro religioso de Tinchebray, a 100 kilmetros de Argentan. Los estudios no le motivan y se dedica a dibujar. 18971899 Aprendiz de arquitecto en Caen. 19001902 Llega a Pars en los primeros das del ao 1900. Ejerce de dibujante en el taller de un arquitecto. 19021903 Servicio militar en el Segundo Regimiento de Ingenieros Militares de Versalles. 1903 Deja la arquitectura para dedicarse a la pintura. Le admiten en la cole des arts dcoratifs, pero le rechazan en Bellas Artes. Alumno oyente en los talleres Lon Grme y Gabriel Ferrier. Frecuenta la academia Julian y el Louvre. 19031904 Se gana la vida como negro de un arquitecto y trabajando de retocador para un fotgrafo. Comparte el taller con Andr Mare. 19061907 Cae enfermo y pasa el invierno en Crcega, en Belgodre. Despus se va a le-Rousse, cerca de su amigo de la niez, Henri Viel. 1907 Retrospectiva de Czanne en el Salon dautomne. 19081909 Diversas estancias en Crcega. Cuando regresa a Pars, se instala en el nmero 2 del pasaje de Dantzig, en el edificio de la Ruche, en el barrio de Vaugirard. Conoce a Archipenko, Laurens, Lipchitz y, ms adelante, a Delaunay y a los rusos Chagall y Soutine. Entabla una gran amistad con Maurice Raynal y Blaise Cendrars.
1909 Conoce al aduanero Rousseau, a quien admira por su personalidad y trabajo. 1910 Vive en la buhardilla del nmero 13 de la calle Ancienne-Comdie. Serie Toits et Fumes. 1911 Conoce a Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler, el marchante de los cubistas. En su galera exponen Vlaminck y, posteriormente, Braque, Picasso y Lger. 1912 La Femme en bleu en el Salon dautomne. Participa en La Maison cubiste de Andr Mare, en el Salon dautomne, con Le Passage niveau. 1913 Kahnweiler le ofrece un contrato por tres aos. Lger instala su taller en el nmero 86 de la calle Notre-Dame-desChamps. Primera conferencia en la academia de Marie Wassilieff: Les origines de la peinture contemporaine et sa valeur reprsentative (publicado en Fonctions de la peinture, primera edicin 1965, reeditado en 19961997). 19141917 Segunda conferencia en la academia Marie Wassilieff: Les ralisations picturales actuelles (en Fonctions op. cit.). Es movilizado el 2 de agosto como zapador en Argonne (19141916). Posteriormente, le envan como camillero a Verdn (19161917). Realiza numerosos dibujos y collages. Le hieren y es hospitalizado en Villepinte. Expone en la galera LEffort moderne, de Lonce Rosenberg. 1918 Les Disques, Le Cirque Mdrano, serie Hlices. Primer contrato con Lonce Rosenberg. 1919 La Ville. Les lments mcaniques. Se casa con Jeanne Lohy el 2 de diciembre. 1920 Les Disques dans la ville. Series Remorqueurs y Femmes au miroir. Les grandes figures. Le Corbusier y Ozenfant fundan la revista LEsprit nouveau. Conoce a Le Corbusier y descubre a Mondrian y Van Doesburg en la galera de Lonce Rosenberg.
19211922 La Mre et lEnfant. Serie Paysages anims. Participa en el rodaje de La Roue de Abel Gance junto a Cendrars (cf. El texto publicado en Camoedia, el 10 de diciembre de 1922, reeditado en Fonctions, op. cit.: La Roue, sa valeur plastique, 1922). Ilustraciones para Lunes en papier de Andr Malraux. Decorados y vestidos para el ballet Skating Rink, de Rolf de Mar en el teatro de los Champs lyses, el 20 de enero de 1922. Msica de Arthur Honegger y coreografa de Jean Brlin. Conoce al poeta Vladimir Mayakovski, con Elsa Triolet. Muere la madre de Lger, el 10 de abril de 1922. 1923 Le Grand Remorqueur. Les Deux Figures (Nu sur fond rouge). Decorados y vestidos para el ballet La Cration du monde, de Rolf de Mar en el teatro de los Champs lyses, el 25 de octubre de 1923. Libreto de Blaise Cendrars y msica de Darius Milhaud. Decorados y cartel para LInhumaine con Robert Mallet-Stevens, Claude Autant-Lara, Pierre Chareau y Alberto Cavalcanti. Dirigido por Marcel LHerbier y con msica de Darius Milhaud. Textos Le ballet-spectacle, lobjet-spectacle y Les bals populaires, publicados en La Vie des lettres et des arts en 1923 (en Fonctions, op. cit.). Conferencia Lesthtique de la machine, lobjet fabriqu, lartisan et lartiste, publicada en diversas ediciones el 19231924 (en Fonctions, op. cit.). 1924 La Lecture. Serie de composiciones murales relacionadas con la arquitectura moderna: Le Ballet mcanique, primera pelcula sin escenario. Directores y productores: Fernand Lger y Dudley Murphy; msica de Georges Antheil. Viaja a Italia (Ravenna) con Lonce Rosenberg. Funda con Ozenfant un taller libre, lAcadmie Moderne, en el nmero 86 de la calle Notre-Dame-des-Champs. All da clases con Marie Laurencin, Exter y Othon Friesz. Conoce en Viena al arquitecto Frederick Kiesler, organizador de la Exposicin Internacional de Teatro (proyeccin del Ballet mcanique). 19251927 Exposicin de artes decorativas en Pars: decora el hall-jardn de invierno del pabelln de una embajada francesa de Mallet-Stevens. Primeras pinturas murales en el pabelln de LEsprit nouveau para Le Corbusier. Colabora con la revista LEsprit nouveau. Primera exposicin individual en Nueva York. Exposicin en la galera Quatre-Chemins.
1928 Hace diversos viajes a Berln con motivo de la exposicin en la galera Flechtheim: conferencia dedicada a Le Corbusier. Lger descubre LApocalypse de Angers en la escuela Gobelins. 1929 Fundacin de la Union des Artistes Modernes (UAM), con Robert Mallet-Stevens, Francis Jourdain, Ren Herbst, Hlne Henry, Charlotte Perriand, Pierre Chareau, Le Corbusier y otros. Texto La rue, objets, spectacles, publicado en LIntransigeant (en Fonctions, op. cit.). Encargo de un mural para el doctor Reber, coleccionista suizo. Viaja a Espaa con Le Corbusier y Pierre Jeanneret. Estudios para un biombo: Queues de comtes. 1930 Estancia en casa de Sara y Gerald Murphy, en Austria. Conoce a Simone Herman. Primer saln de la UAM, Muse des Arts dcoratifs, Pars. Conoce a Charlotte Perriand. 1931 Septiembre diciembre: primer viaje a Estados Unidos, Nueva York y Chicago. Se encuentra con Kiesler y Wallace Harrison. Conoce a los arquitectos del Rockefeller Center: Harvey Corbett y Raymond Hood. (cf. Mes voyages). 1932 Composition aux trois figures. Miembro de la AEAR, Association des crivains et artistes rvolutionnaires, presidido por Andr Gide. Da clases en la Grande-Chumire despus del cierre de la Acadmie Moderne. 1933 Exposicin retrospectiva en el Kunsthaus de Zrich. Viaja a Grecia con Le Corbusier con motivo del CIAM (Congreso Internacional de Arquitectura Moderna). Cuando regresa, en el Patris II, conferencia Larchitecture devant la vie (publicada en Fonctions, op. cit., con el ttulo Le mur, larchitecte, le peintre). Abre la Acadmie dart contemporain en la calle Moulin-Vert, nmero 23, con Nadia Khodasievich. Serie Marie lacrobate. 1934 Conferencia en la Sorbona: De lAcropole la tour Eiffel. Fresco Mur libre en Vzelay, en casa de Jean Badovici. Viaja a Londres donde realiza para Alexandre Korda los decorados de una pelcula de G. H. Wells, The Shape of Things to Come La forma de las cosas por venir.
Viaja a Estocolmo con motivo de la exposicin en la Galerie Moderne, con Simone Herman. Se convierte en miembro de la UAM. Composition aux deux perroquets. 1935 En la exposicin internacional de Bruselas, participa en La Maison du jeune homme, realizada por la UAM, Louis Sognot, Ren Herbst, Charlotte Perriand, Pierre Jeanneret y Le Corbusier. Murales: Alos y Salle de culture physique. Segundo viaje a Estados Unidos con Simone Herman, donde se renen con Le Corbusier.Primera retrospectiva en el Museum of Modern Art de Nueva York, y despus en el Art Institute of Chicago. La transposicin a tapiz de la tela de 1932, Composition aux trois figures, bajo el control de Marie Cuttoli, se presenta en el taller de Le Corbusier con motivo de la exposicin Arts Primitifs. 1936 Gobierno del Frente Popular. Participa en los debates La querella del realismo, en la Maison de la culture. Decorados para el ballet de Serge Lifar David triomphant, con msica de Vittorio Rieti, creado en el teatro de la Cit universitaire. 1937 Exposicin internacional de las artes y tcnicas en Pars: decorado para la fiesta de los sindicatos en el Veldromo de invierno; pintura mural Le Transport des forces, en el Palais de la dcouverte; paneles y fotomontajes al aire libre para el pabelln de la Agricultura, en colaboracin con Charlotte Perriand. En el Veldromo de invierno, decorados y vestidos para Naissance dune cit de JeanRichard Bloch, con msica de Roger Dsormires y Jean Wiener, y msica de las canciones de Darius Milhaud y Arthur Honegger. En Amberes, conferencia La couleur dans le monde (en Fonctions, op. cit.). Viaja a Helsinki con Simone Herman para la exposicin Lger-Calder, en la galera Artek. Conoce a Alvar Aalto. 19381939 Exposicin en Londres y Bruselas. Septiembre 1938 marzo 1939: tercera estancia en Estados Unidos. Conferencia en la Universidad de Yale. Pasa una temporada en casa de John Dos Passos, en Princeton, y en Long Island, en casa de Wallace K. Harrison, a quien conoci en Francia en 1927. Pinturas murales para el apartamento de Nelson A. Rockefeller Jr., en Nueva York.
Para la Worlds Fair de Nueva York, pintura mural para el pabelln de la Consolidated Edison Company, del arquitecto Wallace K. Harrison. Proyectos de pintura murales para el centro de aviacin popular de Briey (prximo a Nancy), que no se realizaron nunca. 2 agosto: se declara la Segunda Guerra Mundial. 19401941 Lger se refugia en Normanda, en Burdeos y en Marsella. Obtiene un visado para viajar a Estados Unidos va Lisboa. Ensea en la Universidad de Yale con Henri Focillon, Andr Maurois, Darius Milhaud. Profesor asociado en el Mills College, California, en verano de 1941. Les Plongeurs sur fond jaune. 1942 Serie Les Plongeurs. Pinturas murales para la residencia Harrison, en Long Island. Inicio de los colores fuera. 1943 Estancia en Montreal. Conoce al padre Marie-Alain Couturier, amigo de Marie Cuttoli y Henry Laugier. Lger in America, pelcula de Thomas Bouchard en Nueva York y msica de Edgar Varse. 1944 Series Paysages y Cyclistes. Conferencias en Washington y Saint-Louis. Colabora en la pelcula de Hans Richter Dreams that money can buy Sueos que el dinero pueden comprar, con Calder, Ernst, Darius Milhaud y Man Ray. Exposicin en el Art Institute of Chicago. 1945 Viaja a Montreal, Qubec. Participa en la exposicin European Artists in America en el Whitney Museum de Nueva York. Se afilia al Partido Comunista francs. 1946 Reapertura del taller Fernand Lger en Montrouge por Georges Bauquier y Nadia Khodasievich. Exposicin de las obras americanas en la galera Louis Carr. Conferencia en la Sorbona: Le nouveau ralisme en art. Inauguracin de la Maison de la pense franaise. 1947 Recibe el encargo, por mediacin del padre Couturier, de un mosaico de 7 x 16 m para la fachada de la iglesia de Assy (Haute-Savoie), finalizado en 1949.
1948 Gran composicin mural para la Exposicin internacional de las mujeres, puerta de Versalles, realizada por sus alumnos. Decorados y vestidos para Le Pas dacier, con coreografa de Serge Lifar y msica de Serguei Prokofiev. Viaja a Polonia, al Congreso de Wroclaw. 1949 El Taller Lger abre en un nuevo local. Acoge a numerosos artistas americanos que llegan con becas de estudios. Exposicin retrospectiva Fernand Lger 19051949, en el Muse national dArt Moderne de Pars. Realiza las ilustraciones para Les Illuminations de Rimbaud; Texto e ilustraciones para Le Cirque. Primeras cermicas realizadas con un alumno de su taller, Roland Brice, a partir de pinturas anteriores de los aos 1930 y 1940. Diciembre 1949 enero 1950: ltima exposicin global de la UAM bajo el nombre de Formes utiles. Charlotte Perriand presenta a Le Corbusier y Lger en la seccin Synthse des arts (Les Plongeurs sur fond jaune, 1941). 1950 Serie Les Constructeurs. Decorados y vestidos para la pera Bolvar, con guin de Jules Supervielle, adaptacin de Madeleine Milhaud, msica de Darius Milhaud y coreografa de Serge Lifar. Mosaicos para las capillas de la cripta del Memorial de Bastogne (Blgica). Muere Jeanne Lger. 1951 Vitrales y tapiz para la iglesia de Audincourt. A peticin de Charlotte Perriand, Lger pide a sus alumnos la realizacin de un decorado mural para el pabelln francs de la Trienal de Miln. Decoracin mural para el comedor del transatlntico Lucania. Se instala en Chevreuse. 1952 Se casa el 21 de febrero con Nadia Khodasievich, que lleg a Francia en 1924 para asistir a las clases de Lger y se encargaba del taller en ausencia del artista. Se instala en Gif-surYvette, en el Gros Tilleul. Estancia en Venecia durante la Bienal. Mural para el hall de la Asamblea General de la ONU en Nueva York, encargado por el arquitecto Wallace K. Harrison. 1953 Ilustraciones para Libert, el poema-objeto de Paul luard. Libert, jcris ton nom. La Partie de campagne. La Grande Parade sur fond rouge.
1954 La Grande Parade (tat dfinitif). Vitrales para la iglesia de Courfaivre (Suiza); mosaicos y vitrales para la Universidad de Caracas; maquetas de una gran decoracin en mosaico para el edificio administrativo de Gas de France en Alfortville (realizado en 1955); proyecto de un mosaico para la pera de Sao Paulo (Brasil) (nunca realizado) del arquitecto Oscar Niemeyer. Encargo de un mosaico para el hospital americano de SaintL, realizado en 1956. 1955 Viaja a Checoslovaquia con motivo del congreso de los Sokols en Praga. Texto Les Spartakiades, publicado en Mes voyages. Gran premio de la tercera Bienal de Sao Paulo. Proposition dune synthse des arts, Le Corbusier, F. Lger, C. Perriand. Exposicin realizada en Tokio y en Osaka por Charlotte Perriand y Junzo Sakakura. Se presentan tres tapices, siete esculturas policromadas en cermica y quince maquetas de vitrales de la iglesia de Audincourt, obra de Lger. El 17 de agosto, Lger muere repentinamente en Gif-surYvette. 1960 Nadia Lger y Georges Bauquier inauguran en Biot (Alpes Maritimes) el Museo Fernand Lger. 1967 Donacin al Estado francs. El museo se convierte en museo nacional. La obra monumental de Lger perdura despus de su muerte en los materiales y las tcnicas con los que haba experimentado a lo largo de su vida: tapices, vitrales, mosaicos y cermicas, bajo responsabilidad de Georges Bauquier.
55
Traduccin al ingls
The affable cubist

FERNAND LGER, A LESSON IN HUMANITY Arcadi Calzada i Salavedra
Linquitude est tout de mme la seule position vraie pour sentir la vie en profondeur. F. Lger1 The struggle or association between work and human relationships is a forte of Fernand Lger, the affable cubist who allows us to appreciate a work far beyond the diversity of its visual ideas. Deep down, the desire to escape from the closed circle of art itself and from painful experiences like the First World War brings his creative world ever closer to the people, based on a need to destroy a wall as he described it in 1934. Concerned by what others lack, by the desperate silhouettes and open, expectant eyes of the poor people who cross his path, he thinks of the traces left behind by all of us on our passage through life. His is a strong, interior world, tied firmly to instinctive, essential necessities. The most primitive, subtle senses lead him to think he could be blind, in order to continue living by his hands and sense of smell. On the edge of this lesson of humanity, of the personal implication of social causes, the need to open a broad communication far from power elites, we could say that his train of thought and political, social ideals are related to the representative components of his work, almost always tied to the ordinary: labourers, farmers, animals and since the war, to mechanical animals. He often strolls around the markets of Paris and is carried away by the objects, by new inventions, and into what will be our future. The mechanics, the rigidity, the geometry and the colour combine in such a way that the projection becomes humanised among the tenderness and the ingenuity. The art, the spectacles and, above all, the voyages, reflections which emanate from the transport by which he relocates, playing with movement, with the wind, like a clear analogy with the creative sense, with the work and the writing; but never forgetting that he often described in his writing the formal, chromatic aspects of the machine which carried him, of the train or a boat. In contrast, he never feels well in the mountains, when he is closed in among them, in what he calls the sweet melody of pompier, eternal nature, because he finds it ridiculous that this mountain should remain motionless when it ought to travel or have animals to bring it to life. Movement as life and, in one of his letters, in which we appreciate his more human side, he moves from the lethargic, from absolute stillness, to the substitution of what he would desire Thus Lgers imagination bursts forth with an extraordinary serpent five hundred metres long, with changing colours that could possess and breathe life into the dead silhouettes of the mountains. Disquiet is a vital element of progress and everything in his life is related to this agility of the senses to capture, dream, imagine And the interest in the popular world or mechanics joins industrial elements, architecture, everything that has to do with everyday life and which lets him open himself to other forms of expression and to different types of materials. The exhibition we are presenting at the Centre Cultural Fundaci Caixa Girona brings us closer to a part of the language utilised by Lger, especially the tapestry and the sculpture. Lgers intention in his grand projects was an integration of his vision of the arts, team work and inter-disciplinary dialogue. A Lger we would discover as a vagrant wandering the streets of Paris, desirous of trapping all he could with his senses, sometimes perhaps, alongside Blaise Cendrars. But, wherever he was, he was always an observer, concerned with any state that suggested abandon. In New York, he read phrases from Rimbaud and wrote: This guy has New York all figured out or he focused on an architecture made to show off and assert its hard angles and he would say that if time were grey it would be prison and if there were no light there would be dementia, too, with straight streets without a single tree. He sought out colour and painted houses and avenues with blues and yellows, with the same chromatic intensity that you can enjoy through these works. Arcadi Calzada i Salavedra President of Caixa Girona
1
FERNAND LGER
Letter from Lger to Simone Herman, September 12, 1935.
LGER POUR LGER Dominique Haim Chanin

The interaction of art and architecture in public spaces was to be a powerful concern of Lgers work, which grew over the course of his creative life. Observing Lgers work, the architect Le Corbusier described it as architectures sister...The link is so imperative that of all the painters working today, Lger is the one whose paintings demand a new architecture. Throughout his life, Lger struggled to create art on a scale and in a style that would be in harmony with the built environment. Feeling the constraints of conventional formats, Lger expressed his concern with developing the magnitude and expansion of his art. The ultimate goal, Lger added, was to express maximum power and even violence on a wall. If I could produce this, I would die a happy man. In 1942, while in war-time exile in the United States, Lger wrote to the director of the Museum of Modern Art asking for help in finding such a public wall in order for him to produce a large mural painting (as) the culmination of my two years work in the USA. Returning to Paris after the War, Lger continued his exploration of monumentality. By 1953, Lger was explaining his latest works in an exhibition at the Louis Carr Gallery in Paris as movement towards architecture. Lger wrote: This exhibition of polychrome sculptures marks a clear evolution towards the goal of cooperation with architecture.
Ive had this concern from the start, but I began cautiously, using my easel paintings as a starting point. Now, mural art is taking shape in all its possibilities: for interior or exterior use, with a static or dynamic focus, complementing or obliterating a wall. A final evolution has begun with La Fleur qui marche, and the large polychrome sculpture (Le Tournesol) belonging to the (Paris) Museum of Modern Art. In the years before his death in 1955, Lger concentrated on the challenge of creating large-scale public art. Some of his greatest achievements date from this period: mosaics for the Second World War Memorial in Bastogne in 1950; stained glass windows and tapestries for the church of Audincourt, France, 19501951; decorations for the large auditorium at the United Nations building in New York in 1952; stained glass windows for a church in Courfaivre, Switzerland 19531954; and stained glass windows and mosaics for the University of Caracas, Venezuela in 1954. In making these monumental works, Lger understood that fulfilling his creative vision would require the added skills of a group of exceptional artisans. Indeed, Lger understood these collaborations as an essential part of creating large public works. Reflecting on the collaborative process, he wrote: Easel painting is strictly individual. Mural painting is in itself a collective order. First comes the meeting with the architect whereby we reach an agreement. When the time comes to begin work, the students assist me. I provide maquettes, the students enlarge upon them and the mosaicists, the ceramicists and the glassworkers all come into play. After Lgers death, a further number of monumental public projects were produced with his collaborators based on Lgers maquettes: ceramics and mosaics for the administrative building of Gaz de France in Alfortville; mosaics for the Grand Opera House of So Paulo, Brazil; and mosaics for the Memorial Hospital in Saint-L, France. The artists widow, Nadia Lger, committed to the Fernand Lger Museum in Biot, France, oversaw the adaptation of a number of existing works to serve as the buildings mosaic and ceramic faade as well as for a monumental ceramic sculpture, Le Jardin denfants. New York, December 2007
LGER, THE AFFABLE CUBIST Antonio Niebla

Looking at Lger today, sixty years on, fresh, everyday, newly-made, at a time in which, above all, we are unconsciously hurtling towards the irremediable abyss of consumerism, and at a time in which the ideology of many of us is simply to try and be young, it is like fresh and essential rain. By exalting youth and its values with such zeal that this worship has gone beyond even religion and become a kind of superstition, society is committing a historical folly. Never has what we are and
what surrounds us become so old and so soon as now. Our art collections, our poetry anthologies and our film and book libraries, full of styles, movements, pictures and sculptures, have gone out of fashion. This is stated by the critics (especially in love with themselves), fairs, shows and the simpleminded kowtowing attitude towards art gurus. And what hurts our poor ears the most, overwhelmed by so much verbosity, and before our confused eyes: we see ourselves, in many things that we like, as bafflingly aged! Yet why? If films, books and pictures of which we are children are alive and are still open windows into our imagination, if they continue to be the love that fills us, why look timidly at a source of life and a mirror of the history in which we grew up? If the miracle of art stems from the balance between the trade and the concept at the service of feelings, we must begin by saying that Lger was a tender and loving painter of everything to do with art. For him, pain, enthusiasm, dawn, sadness and smiling, animals and trees were all interrelated. He strove to bring life itself to his painting through suggestion. A very good friend to his friends, he was always grateful to anybody who supported his cause, which above all was to be a good person. Lger told us that his territory was life as the sea and art as his sailing ship. Those who knew him point to his ability to charm and seduce, and to his affable and uncomplicated character. He was strongly drawn to the land. His imposing stature and build reflected such a contagious vitality that amongst his friends he was known as happy Hercules. At the same time he was an intellectual capable of understanding whatever was thrown at him and making it his own. He was an excellent conversationalist who was able to take on board the wisdom born in country people through a series of simple things, such as: the smell of freshly cut grass, the colour of freshly ploughed land, the virtue of knowing how to expect rain, the right time for sowing and harvesting, and how to put up with inclement weather until the arrival of fair weather. Lger was an intellectual who proudly went about with the appearance of a Normandy peasant. His life was a constant struggle. In each and every episode of his life, his struggle progressively influenced his adventure as a painter. In his work, Lger implacably expresses the changes of the war of his life: war in the years of trying to discover himself, war with Impressionism, with Czanne, with the Cubists, war with colour. Then, after the war against war, the war against objects, against the wall, against maturity. Without doubt he played, fought, had fun and suffered. He was an introverted artist incessantly struggling with himself and consumed by doubts. Lger was born on 4th February 1882 in Argentan, Normandy. He was born into a cattle-rearing family and christened Jules-Fernand-Henry Lger. Without doubt, he was destined to become one of the most noteworthy figures in the world of art of the 20th century. His father passed away when
he was two years old. At fifteen he became passionate about drawing. He left his work on the family farm and between 1897 and 1899 worked as a draughtsmans apprentice with an architect in Caen. He moved to Paris in 1900 and scraped a living as an architects draughtsman. Three years later he wished to enrol at the cole des Beaux Arts but was rejected due to his lack of artistic skill. Nevertheless, he attended as a non-enrolled student and received lessons from Lon Grme and Gabriel Ferri. At the same time he attended classes at the cole dArts Decoratifs and at the famous Acadmie Julian. He constantly visited the Louvre Museum and the galleries on Rue Laffite, which is where the Impressionists exhibited. His first paintings (1905) are heavily influenced by Impressionism. He was living very precariously. The little time he had left over after his mornings work at an architecture studio and his afternoons work at a photographers home, touching up and colouring photos, was devoted to painting on cardboard or on any other suitable material he could lay his hands on. Czannes retrospective exhibition at the Salon dAutomne in 1907 in Paris was a crucial moment in the history of art. The importance given to volume as structure by Czanne made a great impression on Lger, along with his particular understanding of reality in dead natures, which he represented with cylinders, cones, cubes and spheres, offering a perspective thanks to which each side of the object referred directly to its central axis. This fact altered Lgers understanding of the distribution of elements in a painting, above all regarding the bearing that light had on them. In the same year he discovered the Cubism of Picasso and Braque, faithful followers of Czanne, together constituting the real source of the Cubist movement, which was a mixture of the structure of Czannes work with the African Primitivism of Picasso and the structured forms of Braque. Lger as a painter grew up with Impressionism and, influenced by Czanne, felt seduced by the dynamism of forms and the influence of colour, which led him to his first works with Cubist features. Czanne was also his reference figure, as seen in the cylindrical motifs, milk bottles, coffee pots, glasses and, above all, the Czanne-style light reflections that fascinated him and which he amply employed almost throughout his career. From the beginning, his Cubism was geared towards a new and personal iconography, providing a poetic vision of machines. Meanwhile, Paris was bursting with influences. The artistic cauldron was bubbling over with a tension-filled atmosphere where there were two main groups that attempted to ignore each other: the first group, located in Montmartre, was influenced by the Impressionists while the second, based in Montparnasse, looked to the Avant-Garde movement arriving from Russia and was especially influenced by Kandinsky, Kasimir Malevich and Vladimir Tatlin.
In 1908 Lger rented a studio in Montparnasse, at 2 Passage de Dantzig, in a building known as La Ruche (the Beehive), due to the number of artists who had their studios there. His neighbours mostly belonged to the Russian-Parisian AvantGarde group. There he met, amongst others, the Delaunays, Lipchitz, Marc Chagall, Archipenko, Laurens, poets and writers like Apollinaire, Max Jakob, Reverdy, Blaise Cendrars, Maurice Raynal and a series of intellectuals whose friendship he enjoyed throughout his life. He struck up a curious friendship with the customs officer Henri Rousseau who with his apparent ingenuity was the anti-Impressionist destroyer par excellence. His curiosity was relentless and, with part of the group, founded the Section dOr, a journal and platform for socio-cultural debate that gained great importance. Lger was 29 when he presented his painting Nus dans la fort (19091910) in the Salon des Indpendants, one of his most important early works, possibly inspired by a painting of the same name by Picasso from 1908. The work measures 120 x 170 cm and is governed by truncated conical forms, surrounded by tubes, which led the critic Vauxelles to christen the style sarcastically as Tubism. Picasso said before the painting: Here is a lad who is bringing something new to Cubism, which will no longer have the same name as our thing. Unlike Braque and Picasso, Lger was governed by traditional perspective. The painting includes trees and plant varieties in the foreground, emphasised by a restricted choice of colours, and presents three woodcutter figures, one seated in the centre with one on either side. Here, Lger was already prefiguring what would later become his style when painting the plant kingdom, in the middle of a metal tube structure symbolising the mechanical world. Lger became a clear reference figure amongst young Parisian artists. The gallery owner and poet Daniel Henry Kahnweiler (possibly the most important gallery owner in the world), Picasso and Braques dealer, showed an interest in his work and in 1910 presented an exhibition on Cubism of the three artists in his Paris gallery. Lgers Cubism, inversely to the analytical Cubism of Braque, Picasso and Juan Gris, is denser and more concentrated in itself, it is animated by a principle of infinity, by a different compositional force. 1911s La Noce, another historical work by Lger, of considerable size (257 x 206 cm), is stimulated by a centrifugal force, a lyrical dispersion that makes this one of the most complex works of his entire career. Another character who influenced Cubism and Lgers work was the Mexican painter Diego Rivera, a little acknowledged fact. Rivera brought his Mexican vividness with fresh and new colours to the Parisian scene. He took part in the Salon dAutomne in 1912 and 1913 in Paris. In 1913 he had an individual exhibition in the Bernheim Jeune Gallery where he showed a collection of fresh, per-
sonal and colourist Cubist paintings, where illustrious visitors of the painting entered on tiptoes so as to pass unnoticed. On most occasions, perhaps, Lger is closer to Rivera than to Braque, Picasso or Juan Gris, especially in the arrangement of forms, in the warmth of the proposal and in terms of the vivid and fresh colouring. It goes without saying that Lger was a cultural predator in a positive sense, taking an interest in theatre, cinema, poetry and literature. He was a good orator and showed his knowledge with the speech entitled The origins of contemporary painting and its representative value in the Marie Wassilieff Academy in Berlin. Months later he was once again invited by the academy and spoke with great success on the theme of pictorial realization today. Lger, like Delaunay, needed wide urban spaces, fled from the closed studio and, with his country roots, missed open spaces. This was far removed from the typical darkened dead natures, or the landscapes of rooftops and smoking chimneys seen and painted by artists from the tiny windows of attic flats. The difference was that Lger, like Mir, did not attempt to share his pain, fear and frustrations with the viewer. They both offered an ever-open door to the hope and joy of colour, while their Cubist peers cast it aside. Lger was 32 when the First World War broke out and was recruited as a sapper by the French army. The cultural level of his new companions was very different from that of the friends that he had left behind in Paris: they were miners, smelters, sailors, mechanics and peasants. Accustomed as he was to constant debate, the lack of opportunities to share his knowledge and concerns made him desperately lonely. He was opposed to war and was sent to the Argonne Front, where he spent two years. He was transferred as a stretcher-bearer to the Verdun Front. He felt lonely but made the most of any spare time to draw and read. The postal service did not work and he knew nothing about his friends. A year later he was seriously injured by a mustard gas attack that led to him being hospitalised for a year in Villepinte Hospital. Following his convalescence he was declared unfit for service. In 1917 he exhibited drawings and gouaches at the LEffort Moderne Gallery, owned by Lonce Rosenberg. His horrible wartime experiences and the amount of free time he had during his convalescence at the hospital enabled him to read with relish and to reflect. His lifestyle and, as such, his work, took a new direction. He would paint incessantly from dawn to the small hours and produced a series that he christened Disques and another devoted to propellers Les Hlices. The social situation and his concern for the defenceless was a constant in his life. The exploitation of children in mines and the injustices of the war and post-war period, along with living in a society that he did not like, led him towards a socialist ideology and he became a member of the French Communist Party.
Lger was still the same old Lger. Although his style and iconography were highly defined, his visual experience of large war machines changed his painting, without removing his Czanne-based roots. Cubism and the war combined to produce a series of works of broken, disjointed bodies, human forms that become cogs, ball bearings, engine pistons or robotic characters, such as Le soldat la pipe (130 x 97 cm), from 1919. There is already an awareness of his fascination for light in several of his works from 1914 onwards, where his mechanical forms are given a kind appearance, not aggressive in any way, and are displayed in his paintings as both aesthetic icons of modernity and as a paradox, unlike many of the artists of his time who were heavily influenced as people and in their painting by the terrible visions of war. Lger (perhaps due to his ability to get blood out of a stone) publicly stated that war gave him the modernity and plasticity of machines and greatly widened his knowledge of human beings in a positive way. From 1920 human figures returned to his painting, always classified and uniformed according to their profession, surrounded by and merged with industrial elements. His interest in architecture led him to meet the architect Le Corbusier, with who he struck up a fruitful relationship and carried out several projects. The influence of Le Corbusiers Purism led him to produce blunter and softer forms, with nuanced colours, and above all to use the colour white more assiduously. His mother passed away in 1922 but despite this harsh blow, he experienced one of his most creative periods. He produced posters, scenography for theatre, ballet and cinema. In 1924 he was the producer of his first film, Le Ballet mcanique, with cinematography by Man Ray and Dudley Murphy. His obsession was to take art onto the street, involve it in the daily life of the city in an open and direct manner. He collaborated with glaziers, smelters, ceramicists and tapestry makers. He employed typical artisan means that gave his work a new dimension. The colours that he used were increasingly direct and primary, while forms became ever flatter. This became embodied in his painting and sculpture alike, to such an extent that he made no distinction between them. In 1935, accompanied on a trip to New York by Le Corbusier and Simone Herman, he presented a retrospective of 160 works at the MOMA, which had great artistic repercussions in the new Mecca of art. On 2nd August 1939 the Second World War broke out. The Nazi invasion and the persecution of leftist parties forced him to flee to Normandy to hide in 1940. From there he travelled to Bordeaux and Marseille, where he obtained a travel visa to the United States via Lisbon. Once in America he became a lecturer at Yale University together with Henry Focillon, Andr Maurois and Darius Milhaud. During his stay in the United States he lived in the home of the writer John Dos Passos and soon after painted a great mural for the New York Worlds
Fair, along with several murals for the Popular Aviation Centre, which were not hung. He also produced a sculpture for Nelson A. Rockefeller, La Branche Rockefeller, the model of which appears in this exhibition. He returned once again to Paris and opened a ceramics studio-workshop managed by Roland Brice, a former pupil of his and faithful collaborator throughout his life. Picasso had done the same in Vallauris, Marc Chagall in Vence and Joan Mir in Gallifa. Many students enrolled in his classes, including the German painter Erwin Bechtold, who Lger considered to be his best student. The volume of enrolment requests, even from many young artists from the USA who arrived with study grants, obliged Lger to extend the workshop. His classes were lively and participative; he worked before his students and produced his first sculptures in ceramic and polychrome artificial stone. Between 1945 and 1955 he worked incessantly in all fields. He produced great ceramic murals and mosaics, which he worked on with Heidi Melano, and several monumental tapestries, on which he worked with another of his students, Yvette Cauquil-Prince, such as Les Trois Musiciens, measuring 246 x 238 cm, produced and enlarged from an original from 1944, depicting a small orchestra; Les Loisirs sur fond rouge, measuring 342 x 445 cm, from 1949, depicting a family of acrobats from the Medrano circus, of which Lger was an assiduous spectator; Les Constructeurs from a 1950 original, measuring 295 x 210 cm, featuring the world of skyscrapers under construction in New York; La Grande Parade sur fond rouge, from 1953, measuring 286 x 396 cm, also featuring the circus world; and La Partie de campagne, another tapestry measuring 300 x 367 cm, from 1954, all of which are present in this exhibition. Allegories to pets are also present, recalling his early farm life, such as the sculptures Le Petit Coq or Le Grand Coq, or La Branche R and La Branche muse, tree branches that suggest animal forms, dead natures with fruits and elements from the home. The architecture and influence of skyscrapers came from the years spent in the United States (according to him, the greatest show on earth) and the projection of workers, working on the metal structures of the skyscrapers under construction, is reflected in the series of paintings, ceramics and tapestries that he called Les Constructeurs. What is surprising about these simple and humanised works in the Fontana dOr exhibition is their vividness and vitality. They appear unknown, fresh and timeless, alive and full of youth, as if they had just come out of the artists studio. Most of them were produced together with his collaborators and students, before whom Lger openly experimented in all disciplines. His sketches, paintings, drawings and small sculptures were reborn and became new works. Geometric forms were transferred to the large surfaces that he loved so much. His knowledge and ability to use artisan techniques and weather-resistant industrial materials facilitated the production of his works and helped
the artist enormously in his goal: to take art onto the street. Lger explains in his writings, through his ideology, the obligatory involvement of the artist and his work in society, and the problems stemming from his didactic commitment. His romantic socialism, perhaps a result of his wartime experiences and misery, and his wish to bring art closer to the working class were a constant throughout his career, as in that of many great artists. For this purpose, Lger attempted to produce simply executed work with direct messages, and attempted to avoid the inherent elitism of most works of art. He died on 17th August 1955, at the age of 74. He had recently been awarded a Prize by the Sao Paulo Art Biennial and it had only been two years since he had married a Russian student, Nadia Khodasevitch, with whom he had lived for many years. Lger was a precursor and starting point for many Italian Futurists. The notable difference be-
tween Lger and the Futurists was that the latter turned machines into objects of worship whereas our good-natured artist, on the basis of his humanism, attempted to offer us a new dimension. He wished to twin geometric and mechanical or Cartesian forms with organic forms. He offered us a poetic and humanised industrial world, whose representation he painted with a certain amount of working class oriented ingenuity. This critical and romantic vision of machines, along with robotic figures, can also be found in cinema. What Lger projected in his paintings was echoed in Fritz Langs Metropolis, a futurist and robotic film from 1926, and in Charles Chaplins Modern Times, from 1936, a gentle criticism of the world of large corporations at the time of the Great Depression of 1929, which left the United States in a deep economic crisis throughout the 1930s. Lgers intention was to stop time, capture what escapes us, capture the instant, as has been the intention of the entire painting tradition. In his let-
ters he complained that he was always short of time. Today, in our acceleration of historical time, the years are not shorter; it is just that more things occur in them. Lger offers us a wise lesson: learn to wait. Perhaps the best legacy left by him is his enthusiasm and timeless youth that is displayed in his work through his mastery. Barcelona, March 2008 Index of illustrations Nus dans la fort (Nudes in the forest), 190910. Oil on canvas. 120 x 170 cm. Krller-Mller Museum, Otterlo Netherlands. La Noce (Wedding), 1911. Oil on canvas. 257 x 206 cm. National Museum of Modern Art. Centre de Cration Industrielle. Georges Pompidou Centre, Paris. Donation by Alfred Flechtheim, 1937. Le Soldat la pipe (Soldier with pipe), 1916. Oil on canvas. 130 x 97 cm. Kunstsammlung NordrheinWestfalen, Dusseldorf Germany.
HISTORICAL STUDY OF THE WORKS Julio Niebla

Composition mcanique
1917 Chinese ink on paper 31 x 23 cm Courtesy of the Alorda-Derksen Foundation, Barcelona Signed F. L. / Hop. Villepinte in the bottom righthand corner Composition mcanique (1917) belongs to the 19141920 period. The time of the First World War was also called the mechanical period by the art historian and specialist in Lger, Beth Handler. In the bottom right-hand corner of the work there is an inscription, Hop. Villepinte (Hospital Villepinte), beside the initials F.L., with which the artist signs; that is, Lger painted this work while he was convalescing from the wounds caused by the explosion of a gas bomb on the Front at Verdun. Shortly afterwards he was declared to be of no use to the army. In this composition it is the machine that takes the true leading role, but if we compare it with later works like Les lments mcaniques (1923) and lments mcaniques (1924), the difference is that, while in the 1917 work the compositional structure belongs to a more orthodox or purist Cubism, in which the mechanical elements appear superimposed and create a work with little volume or depth, nearer to Picasso, Gris or Braque, in the 1923 and 1924 works, these elements are deduced from the background, acquiring depth and perspective and even becoming aerial; in this way, they make up one of the most notable features of Lgers work, the arrangements of objects in space, which definitively move him away from classical Cubism. Bibliography: Nord-Sud Revue littraire. 14 April 1918. Accompanying Pierre Reverdys poem Plus profond. Derouet, Christian. Le Cabinet des dessins Lger. Aquarelles et gouaches. Flammarion. Paris, 1997. Page 8. Related works: Les lments mcaniques, 1923. Pencil on paper. 29.2 x 24.2 cm. Private collection, United States. lments mcaniques, 1924. Pencil on paper. 31.9 x 24 cm. Muse national dArt Moderne. Centre de Cration Industrielle. Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris France. In the work Femme au vase, Lger presents the vase as if it was a classical column. The inclusion of architectural elements in his works is the influence of Le Corbusier, an artist who Lger met in 1920 and with whom he struck up a great friendship. The purism of the architects forms influenced Lger, and this took the form of the classical-style column, an iconographic element that appears in many later paintings, such as Le Mouvement billes from 1926. The monumental treatment given both to the column-vase and the woman holding it is one of the most important features of the period. The human figure is classical in style, with monumental proportions, drawn with firm strokes, a particular feature which, after the twenties, became a constant of his artistic career, as we can see in Nu sur fond rouge, from 1927. Bibliography: It will appear reproduced in the catalogue with explanatory text that is in preparation of Fernand Lgers work on paper: Hansma, Irus. Oeuvres sur papier de Fernand Lger. Paris. Related works: Le Mouvement billes, 1926. Oil on canvas. 146 x 114 cm. ffentliche Kunstsammlung Basle, Kunstmuseum, Switzerland. Donated by Dr. H.C. Raoul La Roche. Nu sur fond rouge, 1927. Oil on canvas. 130.1 x 81.4 cm. Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC, USA.
Femme au vase
1925 31.5 x 24 cm Wash, watercolour and lead pencil Courtesy of the Alorda-Derksen Foundation, Barcelona Signed and dated F. L. / 25 in the bottom righthand corner Lger painted this work the same year he directed the film Le Ballet mcanique; with photography by Man Ray and Dudley Murphy and music by George Antheil. This period (19251932) is characterised by monumentality and the rhythm of objects in space.
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Donated by the Joseph H. Hirshhorn Foundation in 1972.
Les Trois Musiciens

1944 Tapestry 246 x 230 cm Private collection, New York Created in Lgers studio by his student Yvette Cauquil-Prince, from the painting Les Trois Musiciens 192444 Signed F. Leger in the left-hand corner and with the tapestry studio initials on the right Tapestry created by Yvette Cauquil-Prince, one of the best tapestry artists of the 20th century and leading student of Lger, who also made tapestries for Chagall and those the Rockefeller family commissioned from Picasso, which still hang on the walls of his family home. The work was made based on the painting on canvas Les Trois Musiciens which Lger dated between 1924, the year when he made his first preparatory drawings, and 1944, when he finally completed the picture. There are substantial differences between the painting and the tapestry. While in the painting the artist presents the group of musicians in a colourist composition, with red and yellow predominating and dividing the background of the picture, in the tapestry the chromatic range is much more austere, with shades of black and white and some brown shadows. Although the geometrical composition of both pieces is essentially the same, there are variations both in the poses of the characters and the musicians instruments. Lger was already in his American period of 194045, during which the artist showed his admiration for the United States, a country which he himself defined as The greatest show on earth. Lger gives great importance to the treatment of characters clothing, he uses it to give expressiveness to his works. In the painting of the musicians, he places the three characters on a vibrant background of bright colours, where the red, green and orange of their clothing stand out. The theme of musicians recurs frequently in other avant-garde movements like Cubism, but Lger manages to extract a different facet: the social element. The most important thing is the social aspect of the workers world, in other words, studying and reflecting in his works on the leisure and festive activities performed by workers in their spare time. According to the artist, without leisure it is impossible for workers to enjoy art. Bibliography: Forestier, Sylvie. LArt monumental de Fernand Lger. Exhibition Lger Monumental at Les Abattoirs in Toulouse. 5 Continents Editions. Milan, 2005. Page 34. Brunhammer, Yvonne. Lger loeuvre monumental. 5 Continents Editions. Milan, 2005. Page 187.
Exhibitions: Lger. Nassau Country Museum, New York. January March 1999. Reproduced on page 43 of the catalogue. Related work: Les Trois Musiciens, 19241944. Oil on canvas. 174 x 145.4 cm. Museum of Modern Art Collection, New York. Donated by the Simon Guggenheim Foundation in 1955.
Related works: Les Loisirs, 19441949. Oil on canvas. 65 x 92 cm. Private collection, New York. La Grande Julie, 1944. Oil on canvas. 111.8 x 127.3 cm. The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Acquired from the legacy of Lillie P. Bliss in 1945.
Les Constructeurs
1950 Tapestry 295 x 210 cm Private collection, New York Created in Lgers studio by Yvette Cauquil-Prince, Lgers student, from the painting Les Constructeurs from 1950 Signed on the right F. Lger and with the tapestry studio initials on the left (P Large tapestry created from the painting Les Constructeurs, tat dfinitif from 1950. The tapestry has the same characteristics as the painting, even the same dimensions. Both compositions maintain the clouds and the ropes from the earlier preparatory drawings, such as Le Profil la corde, tude pour les constructeurs from 1950, but extending the length of the rope surrounding the beams turns it into a frame that appears to protect the metal structure. The workers appear fully involved in labour activities, but immobile and impassive. Their rigid, muscular bodies form part of the tense constructive composition, in which the arms of the four characters appear boldly in a highlighted foreground. The stripes and motifs of the workers shirts are a continuation of the model used by the artist to paint the beams. The curved forms of the characters establish a clear contrast with the geometrical rigidity of the beams of the structure of the building. Man and the iron structure appear distanced, but, at the same time, contrasted. While in his early works Lger exalted the machine, here he represents the tough conditions and danger of work, as well as the rigid industrial atmosphere of hard American reality. At the same time, he uses nature in the work to relieve this industrial world, such as the invented branches he paints beneath the construction workers feet. In his painting/poem Les Mains, hommage Maakovski, from 1951, Lger establishes clear synonymity between modern workers and nature, based on a poem by Evgueni Yevtushenko: Their trousers are like mountains, like tree trunks. Their hands are like the tools they use / Their tools are like their hands... They are different from their superiors...But the time is coming when machines will work for them / They will have hands like their bosses / why not?. Les Constructeurs shows not only the romantic, hopeful view of the world of workers or technology, but also the society and politics of the time. Bibliography: Forestier, Sylvie. LArt monumental de Fernand Lger. Lger Monumental exhibition at Les AbFERNAND LGER El cubista afable 61
Les Loisirs sur fond rouge

1949 Tapestry 342 x 445 cm Private collection, New York Created in Lgers studio by Yvette Cauquil-Prince, Lgers student, from the painting Les Loisirs from 19441949 Signed on the right F. Lger and with the tapestry studio initials on the left (P Tapestry created by Yvette Cauquil-Prince from the painting on canvas Les Loisirs, from 19441949. This time there is just one difference between the two creations: The plant covering the right foot of the reclining character does not appear in the painting. The main theme of the two works (Les Loisirs and Les Loisirs sur fond rouge) is a family of acrobats, a theme Lger loved. Lger began this work during the period of his stay in America (19401945) and completed it in 1949; for this reason some differences can be seen from earlier works on circus themes. While in La Grande Julie, from 1944, Lger presents us with a famous acrobat and her bicycle in an unreal scenario formed by coloured surfaces and abstract shapes, in Les Loisirs sur fond rouge, the scene is made up of a family of acrobats consisting of six characters and two bicycles (the one on the right is the same one who appears in La Grande Julie) in a rural landscape. Lger suggests a natural landscape with essential elements such as a fence, a cloud floating in space, stones and flowers. The sky, which is an artificial red colour, is far away from the descriptive and narrative part of the work. The figures are simplified with the combination of the blocks of bright colours and the planes surrounding them. Les Loisirs sur fond rouge preserves part of the abstract tendency of La Grande Julie, but it is also a genre painting because it attempts to describe a working class leisure activity using the circus theme to do so and, at the same time, because of its involvement with the social problems of the time that interested the artist so much. Bibliography: Forestier, Sylvie. LArt monumental de Fernand Lger. Lger Monumental exhibition at Les Abattoirs in Toulouse. 5 Continents Editions. Milan, 2005. Brunhammer, Yvonne. Lger loeuvre monumental. 5 Continents Editions. Milan, 2005. Page 196.
attoirs in Toulouse. 5 Continents Editions. Milan, 2005. Page 35. Bauquier, Georges. Fernand Lger. Vivre dans le vrai. A. Maeght, Editor. Paris, 2003. Page 285. Brunhammer, Yvonne. Lger loeuvre monumental. 5 Continents Editions. Milan, 2005. Page 190. Exhibitions: Lger. Nassau Country Museum, New York. January March 1999. Reproduced on page 43 of the catalogue. Related works: Les Constructeurs, 1950. Oil on canvas. 300 x 228 cm. Coleccin Muse national Fernand Lger, Biot (France). Le Profil la corde: tude pour les Constructeurs, 1950. Ink and pencil on paper. 64.5 x 49.7 cm. Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art. Edinburgh Scotland.
flower in its classical pose seeking the sunlight, in La Grande Fleur qui marche a sunflower appears in movement, starting to walk, and with some aesthetic features that recall the world of comics or the works of American Pop Art. In these largeformat sculptures, Lger remains faithful to bright colours, with yellow, red, green, orange and blue. Bibliography: Forestier, Sylvie. LArt monumental de Fernand Lger. Lger Monumental exhibition at Les Abattoirs in Toulouse. 5 Continents Editions. Milan 2005. Page 40. Brunhammer, Yvonne. Lger loeuvre monumental. 5 Continents Editions. Milan, 2005. Page 137. Muse national Fernand Lger. Lger et la cramique. Ministre de la Culture et de la Communication . Biot, 2000. Page 62. Exhibitions: Lger. Nassau Country Museum, New York USA. January March 1999. Reproduced on page 45 of the catalogue. Fernand Lger, Mosaics and Ceramic Sculptures. Lungmen Art Gallery, Taipei . April August 1999. Fernand Lger. Union des Banques Suisses, Geneva Switzerland. April June 2002. Lger monumental. Fundaci Caixa Girona, Jardins de Cap Roig, Girona. June September 2002. Reproduced on page 19 of the catalogue. Related work: Feuille de houx sur fond rouge, 1928. Oil on canvas. 92 x 65 cm. Private collection, Paris France.
If we compare it with other paintings whose central motif is branches, such as Les Troncs darbres, from 1931, we can see that in this painting the branches seem like broken, decomposed parts of a human body, floating in a greyish colour on an orange background; in Le Tronc darbre sur fond jaune, from 1945, the tree branch is surrounded by brightly-coloured abstract elements but still has an air of decay and sadness (although it is not as evident as in the previous example). In both cases, the arboreal elements suggest rough, imperfect nature which is, to a point, aggressive towards the spectator, while La Branche R emerges majestically with the elegance of a cock launching its cry into the air; a dynamic, exultant figure which, together with the enamel colours, offers the spectator a sensation of nature that is angry, as if it had right on its side. Bibliography: Forestier, Sylvie. LArt monumental de Fernand Lger. Lger Monumental exhibition at Les Abattoirs in Toulouse. 5 Continents Editions. Milan, 2005. Page 40. Brunhammer, Yvonne. Lger loeuvre monumental. 5 Continents Editions. Milan, 2005. Page 164. Muse national Fernand Lger. Lger et la cramique. Ministre de la Culture et de la Communication. Biot, 2000. Page 37. Exhibitions: Lger. Nassau Country Museum, New York. January March 1999. Reproduced on page 45 of the catalogue. Fernand Lger, Mosaics and Ceramic Sculptures. Lungmen Art Gallery, Taipei. April August 1999. Fernand Lger. Union des Banques Suisses, Geneva Switzerland. April June 2002. Related works: Le Tronc darbre sur fond jaune, 1945. Oil on canvas. 112 x 127 cm. Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art. Edinburgh Scotland. Chemine de lappartement de Nelson Rockefeller, 1939. Polychrome ceramic relief. 282 x 183 cm. New York USA. Les Troncs darbres, 1931. Oil on canvas. 92 x 65 cm. Private collection. Donation to the town of Belfort France.
Le Tournesol
1952 Polychrome ceramic 165 x 132 cm Private collection, Ontario Canada Created in Lgers studio by his ceramicist student Claude Brice Signed at the bottom of the foot F. Lger Lger created Le Tournesol during his last period, 19461955, a time when he made most of his large-format sculptures and reliefs. Shortly before the start of the Second World War, Roland Brice, Lgers former student, returned to the artists studio, but it was not until after 1949 that he and his son Claude became the master ceramicists for all Lgers sculptural work. Initially the ceramics coming out of the studio were small and modest, but soon the desire to socialise art and take it into the street led to works of monumental proportions emerging, such as Femmes au perroquet and La Grande Fleur qui marche, based on small paintings or drawings. They used to make a model of the original in red clay, which the artist checked and corrected; the ceramic was then modelled and fired at more than 1000C. The project was painted in a wash and, following Lgers instructions, the ceramicists turned this into enamel. The use of plants or flowers was not a theme exclusive to Lgers final period as, during the twenties and thirties, he replaced human figures with plants in many of his paintings. They floated in space like ethereal bodies on a background of intense colour. In Feuille de houx sur fond rouge (1928), the movement the artist gives the leaves floating in space contrasts with the weight of the human bodies in other works, although the lack of this spatial weight highlighted his objectivity. The main character in his monumental ceramics is the sunflower (Le Tournesol) which he used in different formats and on different occasions. While in the work we are analysing Lger presents us with the
La Branche R (Rockefeller)
1952 Polychrome ceramic 56 x 47 cm H.C. copy 1/3 Private collection, La Garriga (Barcelona) Created by Lger in the studio of his ceramicist student Claude Brice Signed at the bottom of the base F. Lger H.C.1/3 The significance and dynamism of this branch, represented with the head of a crowing cock, make this sculpture one of the most important of all the works that Claude Brice created in Lgers studio. The idea of this sculpture sprang from a 1939 mural that Nelson A. Rockefeller commissioned from Lger to decorate the fireplace of his New York apartment. The mural was created with the help of Brice and the architect Wallace K. Harrison. The main element of the mural is the branch of a tree, which appears in the foreground and around which the entire composition, containing other arboreal elements and abstract shapes floating in space, turns. Rockefeller liked the fireplace decoration so much that he asked the French artist to make a sculpture of the branch, which, we repeat, is not a branch but the head of a crowing cock. This was the origin of the sculpture La Branche R, for which Lger included the American multimillionaires initial in the title.
La Branche muse
1952 Polychrome ceramic 69 x 38 cm H.C. copy 2/3 Fundaci Caixa Girona Collection, Girona Created in Lgers studio by his ceramicist student Claude Brice Signed at the bottom of the foot F. Lger and numbered H.C. 2/3 The sculpture La Branche muse was created in 1952 by Lger and Claude Brice. It possibly sprang from an element that inspired the paintings l-
ments sur fond bleu and Racines sur fond bleu from 1941 and the famous Paysages anims series from 1937. Lger felt great affection for this sculpture, as he mentioned several times. The artist considered that, from the abstract forms of the sculpture, he had managed to create a balanced composition with great expressive richness. He did not hesitate to give it the name of The Museum Branch or The Museographical Branch because of its importance in his artistic career. The differences from the painting are minimal only chromatic ones: in the oil painting the background is blue, the volume surrounding the central branch is black and the branch is red; by contrast, in the sculpture the branch is yellow and the volume outside it is blue. We can appreciate another difference in the tone of the colours: in the painting it is more subdued while in the sculpture it is brighter and livelier. However, one of the most important features that the artist was proudest of is that the sculpture managed to get the forms to move in space, a visual resource he used frequently throughout his artistic career, as we can appreciate in his paintings from the thirties. In La Branche muse, the interplay of depth created by the gaps between the branches makes space the leading feature, becoming the device that provides the sculpture with dynamism. Bibliography: Forestier, Sylvie. LArt monumental de Fernand Lger. Lger Monumental exhibition at Les Abattoirs in Toulouse. 5 Continents Editions. Milan, 2005. Page 40. Brunhammer, Yvonne. Lger loeuvre monumental. 5 Continents Editions. Milan, 2005. Muse national Fernand Lger. Lger et la cramique. Ministre de la Culture et de la Communication. Biot, 2000. Page 37. Exhibitions: Lger. Nassau Country Museum, New York USA. January March 1999. Reproduced on page 45 of the catalogue. Fernand Lger, Mosaics and Ceramic Sculptures. Lungmen Art Gallery, Taipei. April August 1999. Fernand Lger. Union des Banques Suisses, Geneva Switzerland. April June 2002. Lger monumental. Fundaci Caixa Girona, Jardins de Cap Roig, Girona. June September 2002. Reproduced on page 57 of the catalogue. Related works: Elements sur fond bleu (Racines sur fond bleu), 1941. Oil on canvas. 175 x 101.5 cm. Adrien Maeght Collection, Paris. Nadia and Fernand Lger with La Branche muse. Biot, 1955.
Private collection, Geneva Switzerland Created in Lgers studio by his ceramicist student Claude Brice Signed on the base F. Lger and numbered H.C. 2/3 The model sculpture made by Claude Brice in the studio in 1952 was finally created as part of a definitive monumental project with Georges Bauquier and Nadia Lger in 1960 for the gardens of the National Fernand Lger Museum in Biot (France). The sculpture measures 6 metres high and is made up of 5 elements that recall the Araignes from 1938. The abstract shapes emerging from the base suggest natural elements that appeared earlier in many of his pictures. In the painting Avion dans le ciel, 19391952, we see three elongated forms that emulate trees; they are the same ones that later return for the preparatory drawings for the UNO mural from 1952. In one of them, as well as these elongated figures, we can see an abstract shape like a flower that is repeated in the structure. One of the aspects that interests Lger, particularly in his later works, is the socialisation of art; bringing closer to the general public the art that the over-theoretical artistic avant-garde had taken away from them with the passage of time. His idea is that the spectator approaches and becomes involved in the art he or she is looking at by way of a game. In this way he manages to awaken the child we all carry within us using the fun element of the work. Lger suggests that we return to this childhood garden and reject the prejudices we have accumulated over time, which so strongly condition our ways of acting and which often prevent us from enjoying what is around us. Bibliography: Forestier, Sylvie. LArt monumental de Fernand Lger. Lger Monumental exhibition at Les Abattoirs in Toulouse. 5 Continents Editions. Milan, 2005. Page 42. Brunhammer, Yvonne. Lger loeuvre monumental. 5 Continents Editions. Milan, 2005. Page 164. Muse national Fernand Lger. Lger et la cramique. Ministre de la Culture et de la Communication. Biot, 2000. Page 39. Exhibitions: Lger. Nassau Country Museum, New York USA. January March 1999. Reproduced on page 45 of the catalogue. 20th Century Sculpture. Nassau Country Museum, New York USA. March May 1999. Lger monumental. Fundaci Caixa Girona, Jardins de Cap Roig, Girona. June September 2002. Reproduced on page 57 of the catalogue. Related works: Avion dans le ciel, 193952. Oil on canvas. 60 x 92 cm. Coleccin Muse national Fernand Lger, Biot France.
tude num. 5 for the UNO General Assembly mural project, 195255. Wash and watercolour on paper. 33.4 x 25.2 cm. Hood Museum of Art Collection, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire USA. tude num. 8 for the UNO General Assembly mural project, 195255. Wash and watercolour on paper. 33.4 x 25.2 cm. Hood Museum of Art Collection, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire USA.
Le Grand Coq
1952 Polychrome ceramic 49.5 x 26 cm H.C. 2/3 copy Private collection, Geneva Switzerland Created by Lger in the studio of his ceramicist student Claude Brice Signed on the base F. Lger and numbered under the base H.C. 2/3
Le Petit Coq
1952 Ceramic 38 x 27 cm H.C. 2/3 copy Private collection, Geneva Switzerland Created by Lger in the studio of his ceramicist student Claude Brice Signed on the base F. Lger and numbered under the base H.C. 2/3 The work Le Grand Coq and Le Petit Coq, from 1952, belong to his last stage, 19461955. They were also made in the studio by Claude Brice. Lger was born in the French region of Normandy, where he lived until he was 17, on his family farm. The country surroundings and farm animals became an unforgettable memory in his later years, marking his artistic career. On the farm he dedicated himself to carefully observing and drawing largely cocks and hens. Resulting from this observation comes a series of oils on canvas, with cocks and hens the main theme, composed by Lger using stylised forms verging on abstraction. This series is made up of several variations of bright colours, such as blue, red and yellow. Outstanding works include Le Coq bleu, La Poule blanche and Le Coq rouge, all of them from 1937. In Le Grand Coq and Le Petit Coq, the animals appear almost abstract; only certain forms in the sculpture recall the animals beak and crest. The colour red also suggests its natural colour. The works are very dynamic and, with them, Lger achieves that childlike innocence with which he attempts to approach the spectator. Bibliography: Forestier, Sylvie. LArt monumental de Fernand Lger. Lger Monumental exhibition at Les Abattoirs in Toulouse. 5 Continents Editions. Milan, 2005. Pages 39 and 38.
Jardin denfants
1952 Polychrome ceramic 55 x 71 cm H.C. 2/3 copy
Brunhammer, Yvonne. Lger, loeuvre monumental. 5 Continents Editions. Milan, 2005. Page 165. Muse national Fernand Lger. Lger et la cramique. Ministre de la Culture et de la Communication. Biot, 2000. Page 61. Exhibitions: Lger. Nassau Country Museum, New York USA. January March 1999. Reproduced on page 45 of the catalogue. Fernand Lger, Mosaics and Ceramic Sculptures. Lungmen Art Gallery, Taipei. April August 1999. Fernand Lger. Union des Banques Suisses, Geneva Switzerland. April June 2002. Lger monumental. Fundaci Caixa Girona, Jardins de Cap Roig, Girona. June September 2002. Reproduced on page 61 of the catalogue.
eration in order to give movement to static figures was much used by the Italian futurists. Bibliography Forestier, Sylvie. LArt monumental de Fernand Lger. Lger Monumental exhibition at Les Abattoirs in Toulouse. 5 Continents Editions. Milan, 2005. Page 40. Brunhammer, Yvonne. Lger loeuvre monumental. 5 Continents Editions. Milan, 2005. Exhibitions Lger. Nassau Country Museum, New York USA. January March 1999. Reproduced on page 45 of the catalogue. Fernand Lger, Mosaics and Ceramic Sculptures. Lungmen Art Gallery, Taipei. April August 1999. Fernand Lger. Union des Banques Suisses, Geneva Switzerland. April June 2002.
Bibliography: Forestier, Sylvie. LArt monumental de Fernand Lger. Lger Monumental exhibition at Les Abattoirs in Toulouse. 5 Continents Editions. Milan, 2005. Page 40. Brunhammer, Yvonne. Lger loeuvre monumental. 5 Continents Editions. Milan, 2005. Page 137. Exhibitions: Lger. Nassau Country Museum, New York USA. January March 1999. Reproduced on page 45 of the catalogue. Fernand Lger, Mosaics and Ceramic Sculptures. Lungmen Art Gallery, Taipei. April August 1999. Fernand Lger. Union des Banques Suisses, Geneva Switzerland. April June 2002. Related work: Composition, 1923 1927. Oil on canvas. 128.3 x 97.1 cm. Philadelphia Museum of Art Collection USA. Donation by the AE Gallatin Collection.
La Baigneuse
1952 Relief in bronze 37 x 44 cm Private collection, Barcelona Copy 3/8 Created in Claude Valsuanis foundry Signed at the bottom left-hand corner F. Lger, and on the right, with the stamp of the foundry and number 3/8 La Baigneuse is one of few bronze reliefs created by Lger, although he did make several large bronze sculptures. The casting was made using the lost wax technique at the prestigious Valsuani Foundry (18991970) in Paris. There, artists like Picasso, Gauguin and Renoir took their works to be cast. The main feature of the pieces that came out of Valsuani was the perfect finish of the small details and the very fine, elegant patina. The theme of bathing woman has inspired many artists throughout the whole history of art. Lger himself wrote that when he was living in Paris he often went to the Louvre Museum to admire the works of the great masters, particularly La Baigneuse (1808) by Ingres, one of the most emblematic paintings of the series of bathers he painted during his stay in Rome (18061820) and which was heavily influenced by the classical world. What captivated Lger about this work was the perfect beauty Ingres achieved using sinuous curves, contours and refined colours, and the monumental nature acquired by the female figure. Other artists contemporary with Lger tackled the same theme masterfully: Czanne with Les Grandes Baigneuses, from 19001905, and Picasso with Les Baigneuses, from 1918. La Baigneuse by Lger is a thoroughly monumental work thanks to the treatment he gives the female body; a bather who seems to be floating in that abstract space the sea so characteristic of his works of the twenties and thirties. Lger breaks the sensation of heaviness transmitted by the bronze and gives it dynamism and movement through the resource of multiplying the upper limbs of the figure to as many as 5 arms. This reit64 FERNAND LGER El cubista afable
Composition aux fruits

19521953 Relief in bronze 63 x 52 cm Private collection, Barcelona Copy 4/8 Created in Claude Valsuanis foundry Signed at the bottom left-hand corner F. Lger, and on the right, with the stamp of the foundry and number 4/8 A year before his premature death, Lger declared, at a meeting with Henry Laurens, a great interest in modelling sculptures in bronze. According to the account of Laurens assistant, Marc Leroy, Lger asked Laurens many questions about various techniques for making his works as permanent as possible. Lger was delighted to accept Laurens suggestion about the lost wax technique, which consists of modelling the sculpture in a single piece without limiting the complexity. According to Leroy, Laurens left the conversation full of enthusiasm for Lgers plans and was wondering whether the resulting works would be comparable to Picassos latest sculptures; Lger had also asked about the production of these. Most of the reliefs made by Lger were intended to be large murals and, above all, to be made with ceramics. Only on limited occasions did he make bronze murals, which he resolved technically with the Valsuani foundry by dividing panels to facilitate casting, hanging and transport. The works were first moulded in clay, cast in plaster and then cast again in wax to allow the making of the mould for the final casting in bronze. In Composition aux fruits, Lger plays with a constant in his work: the use of abstract shapes, fruits and organic forms. Once more in this work we can appreciate his search for brotherhood between the Cartesian world and the natural or organic world. A visual relationship offering strength and tenderness with harmony and understanding is the rule for him.
La Grande Parade sur fond rouge

1954 Tapestry 296 x 386 cm Created by Yvette Cauquil-Prince, a student in Lgers studio, from the painting La Grande Parade, tat definitif 1954 Signed on the right F. Lger and with the tapestry studio initials on the left (P In this large tapestry, Lger returned to a world he loved, the circus. The circular composition of the work is an alternative proposal and an attack on the rectilinear principles of modern life. Lger wrote about this aspect: The world is round, everything is round... and nothing is... rounder than the circus. For him, the circus was a spectacle where every day, at any time, unexpected and extraordinary phenomena could occur. He sees the circus as a natural marvel that allows the spectator to breath in an overly pragmatic world. Lger urged: Leave rectangles, geometrical windows and celebrate the general festival of circles in action. Unlike some works from 30s, in La Grande Parade sur fond rouge the artist rejects the solidity of the figure, with dissociation between the line and the form. The result is an extraordinary rotation of characters, animals and objects. In the circus, he was attracted by the investigation of the habits of popular entertainment, which he transferred to his most important works. The only difference between the tapestry and the painting is the colour used. While in the painting the figures and elements are orange, blue, red and yellow on a grey background, in the tapestry black and white predominate on an intense red background recalling the field in Les Loisirs. Bibliography: Forestier, Sylvie. LArt monumental de Fernand Lger. Lger Monumental exhibition at Les Abattoirs in Toulouse. 5 Continents Editions. Milan, 2005.
Brunhammer, Yvonne. Lger loeuvre monumental. 5 Continents Editions. Milan, 2005. Page 193. Exhibitions: Lger. Nassau Country Museum, New York USA. January March 1999. Reproduced on page 43 of the catalogue. Related works: La Grande Parade, tat definitif, 1954. Oil on canvas. 299 x 400 cm. Salomon R. Guggenheim Museum Collection, New York USA.
La Partie de campagne
1954 Tapestry 300 x 367 cm Created in the studio of Lgers student Yvette Cauquil-Prince, from the painting La Partie de campagne, 1er tat from 195253 Signed in the bottom right-hand corner F. Lger and with the initials of the tapestry workshop (P on the left
When Lger says When I paint I look for constructive relationships he is trying to lighten the conditioning load that the unavoidable structure of any composition brings with it. In his exploration, Lger blazes his own trail towards freedom. On another occasion Picasso tells us: I dont paint nature, I work with nature itself. In 1950, Lger wrote: An oak can be destroyed in twenty seconds, but it takes a century to grow. From a very young age, he tried to see the world from the perspective of love and respect for all living things. This green ideology is something that is much talked about today, but not practised enough. In the tapestry La Partie de campagne, the exaltation of the natural environment is latent; it is a break from work, postulating the stability of nature against the forced changes of technology. The constructive relationship is surprising, as is the rhythm of the abstract shapes, stealing the foreground from the characters resting in the pastoral countryside. The blues triangulate the space, while the yellow circle crossed
by green and the red and yellow shapes float around in it, in a manner that Robert Delaunay strove to obtain and which Lger achieves splendidly. Bibliography: Forestier, Sylvie. LArt monumental de Fernand Lger. Lger Monumental exhibition at Les Abattoirs in Toulouse. 5 Continents Editions. Milan, 2005. Brunhammer, Yvonne. Lger loeuvre monumental. 5 Continents Editions. Milan, 2005. Page 193. Exhibitions: Lger. Nassau Country Museum, New York USA. January March 1999. Reproduced on page 43 of the catalogue. Related works: La Partie de campagne, 1er tat, 19521953. Oil on canvas. 114 x 146 cm. Private collection, New York.
JULES FERNAND HENRI LGER Chronology

1881 Jules Fernand Henri Lger is born in Argentan, son of Henri-Armand Lger, a livestock dealer, and Marie-Adle Daunou. 1884 Henri-Armand Lger dies suddenly on 15 February. 1890-1896 He studies at the Mzeray School in Argentan; his friends are the future painter Andr Mare and Henri Viel. Boarder at a religious school in Tinchebray, 100 kilometres from Argentan. His studies do not motivate him and he spends his time drawing. 1897-1899 Apprentice architect in Caen. 1900-1902 He arrives in Paris at the beginning of 1900. He works as a draughtsman in an architects studio. 1902-1903 Military service in the Second Versailles Regiment of Engineers. 1903 He leaves architecture to become a painter. He is admitted to the School of Decorative Arts but rejected in Fine Arts. Student in the studios of Lon Grme and Gabriel Ferrier. He frequents the Julian Academy and the Louvre. 19031904 He makes a living doing ghosted work for an architect and retouching pictures for a photographer. He shares the studio with Andr Mare. 19061907 He falls ill and spends the winter in Corsica, at Belgodre. He then goes to Lle-Rousse, near his childhood friend, Henri Viel. 1907 Czanne retrospective at the Salon dAutomne. 19081909 Various stays in Corsica. When he returns to Paris, he establishes himself at number 2, Passage Dantzig, in the La Ruche building in the Vaugirard district. He meets Archipenko, Laurens, Lipchitz and, later, Delaunay, as well as the Russians Chagall and Soutine. He strikes up a great friendship with Maurice Raynal and Blaise Cendrars. 1909 He meets Douanier Rousseau, who he admires for his personality and his work. 1910 He lives in the attic at number 13, Rue de lAncienneComdie. Toits et Fumes Series. 1911 He meets Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler, the Cubists dealer. Vlaminck and, later, Braque, Picasso and Lger exhibit their work at his gallery. 1912 La Femme en bleu at the Salon dAutomne. He takes part in Andr Mares La Maison Cubiste at the Salon dAutomne, with Le Passage niveau. 1913 Kahnweiler offers him a 3-year contract. Lger establishes his workshop at number 86, Rue NotreDame-des-Champs. First lecture at Marie Wassilieffs academy: Les origines de la peinture contemporaine et sa valeur reprsentative (published in Fonctions de la peinture, first edition 1965, republished in 1996-1997). 19141917 Second lecture at Marie Wassilieffs academy: Les ralisations picturales actuelles (in Fonctions op. cit.). On 2 August, he is mobilised as a sapper at Argonne (19141916). He is later sent to Verdun as a stretcher-bearer (19161917). He makes many drawings and collages. He is wounded and taken to hospital at Villepinte. He exhibits in Lonce Rosenbergs gallery LEffort Moderne. 1918 Les Disques, Le Cirque Mdrano, Hlices series. First contract with Lonce Rosenberg.
1919 La Ville. Les lments mcaniques. He marries Jeanne Lohy on 2 December. 1920 Les Disques dans la ville. Remorqueurs and Femmes au miroir series. The grandes figures. Le Corbusier and Ozenfant found the magazine LEsprit nouveau. He meets Le Corbusier and discovers Mondrian and Van Doesburg at Lonce Rosenbergs gallery. 19211922 La Mre et lEnfant. Paysages anims series. He takes part of the filming of La Roue by Abel Gance together with Cendrars (cf. Text published in Camoedia, 10 December 1922, republished in Fonctions, op. cit.: La Roue, sa valeur plastique, 1922). Illustrations for Lunes en papier by Andr Malraux. Sets and costumes for the ballet Skating Rink, by Rolf de Mar at the Champs lyses Theatre on 20 January 1922. Music by Arthur Honegger and choreography by Jean Brlin. He meets the poet Vladimir Mayakovski, with Elsa Triolet. Lgers mother dies on 10 April 1922. 1923 Le Grand Remorqueur. Les Deux Figures (Nu sur fond rouge). Sets and costumes for the ballet La Cration du monde, by Rolf de Mar at the Champs lyses Theatre on 25 October 1923. Libretto by Blaise Cendrars and music by Darius Milhaud. Sets and poster for LInhumaine with Robert MalletStevens, Claude Autant-Lara, Pierre Chareau and Alberto Cavalcanti. Directed by Marcel LHerbier and with music by Darius Milhaud. Texts Le balletspectacle, lobjet-spectacle and Les bals populaires, published in La Vie des lettres et des arts in 1923 (in Fonctions, op. cit.). Lecture Lesthtique de la machine, lobjet fabriqu, lartisan et lartiste, published in various editions 19231924 (in Fonctions, op. cit.). 1924 La Lecture. Series of mural compositions related to modern architecture: Le Ballet mcanique, first film without a scenario. Directors and producers: Fernand Lger and Dudley Murphy; music by Georges Antheil. He travels to Italy (Ravenna) with Lonce Rosenberg. With Ozenfant he founds a free studio, LAcadmie Moderne, at number 86, Rue Notre-Dame-desChamps. There, he gives classes with Marie Laurencin, Exter and Othon Friesz. In Vienna he meets the architect Frederick Kiesler, organiser of the International Theatre Exhibition (showing of Ballet mcanique). 19251927 Exhibition of decorative arts in Paris: he decorates the hall-winter garden of a French embassy pavilion by Mallet-Stevens.
First mural paintings in the LEsprit nouveau pavilion for Le Corbusier. He works for the magazine LEsprit nouveau. First solo exhibition in New York. Exhibition in the Quatre Chemins gallery. 1928 He makes several trips to Berlin because of the exhibition at the Flechtheim gallery: lecture dedicated to Le Corbusier. Lger discovers LApocalypse dAngers at the Gobelins School. 1929 Foundation of the Union of Modern Artists (UAM), with Robert Mallet-Stevens, Francis Jourdain, Ren Herbst, Hlne Henry, Charlotte Perriand, Pierre Chareau, Le Corbusier and others. Text La rue, objets, spectacles, published in LIntransigeant (in Fonctions, op. cit.). Commissioned to paint a mural for Doctor Reber, a Swiss collector. He travels to Spain with Le Corbusier and Pierre Jeanneret. Studies for a screen: Queues de comtes. 1930 He stays in Sara and Gerald Murphys house in Austria. Meets Simone Herman. First UAM show, Muse des Arts Dcoratifs, Paris. Meets Charlotte Perriand. 1931 September December: first trip to the United States New York and Chicago. He meets Kiesler and Wallace Harrison. He meets the architects of the Rockefeller Center: Harvey Corbett and Raymond Hood. (cf. Mes voyages). 1932 Composition aux trois figures. Member of the AEAR, Association des crivains et artistes rvolutionnaires (Association of Revolutionary Writers and Artists), chaired by Andr Gide. He gives classes at the Grande-Chumire after the closer of LAcadmie Moderne. 1933 Retrospective exhibition at the Kunsthaus in Zurich. He travels to Greece with Le Corbusier for the CIAM (International Modern Architecture Congress). When he returns, at Patris II, he gives the lecture Larchitecture devant la vie (published in Fonctions, op. cit., entitled Le mur, larchitecte, le peintre). He opens LAcadmie dart contemporain at number 23, Rue Moulin-Vert, with Nadia Khodasevich. Marie lacrobate series. 1934 Lecture at the Sorbonne: De lAcropole la tour Eiffel.
Fresco Mur libre in Jean Badovicis house at Vzelay. He travels to London where he creates the sets for a film by Alexander Korda based on H.G. Wells book The Shape of Things to Come. He travels to Stockholm for the exhibition at the Galerie Moderne, with Simone Herman. He becomes a member of the UAM. Composition aux deux perroquets. 1935 At the Brussels international exhibition he participates in La Maison du Jeune Homme created by the UAM, Louis Sognot, Ren Herbst, Charlotte Perriand, Pierre Jeanneret and Le Corbusier. Murals: Alos and Salle de culture physique. Second trip to the United States with Simone Herman, where he meets Le Corbusier. First retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and then at the Art Institute of Chicago. Transposition to tapestry of the 1932 canvas, Composition aux trois figures, under the control of Marie Cuttoli. The following year it is presented at Le Corbusiers workshop for the exhibition Arts Primitifs. 1936 Government of the Popular Front. He takes part in the The Realism Dispute debates at the Maison de la Culture. Sets for Serge Lifars ballet David triomphant, with music by Vittorio Rieti, created at the Cit Universitaire theatre. 1937 International exhibition of arts and techniques in Paris: set for the trade union festival at the Winter Velodrome; mural painting Le Transport des forces, at the Palais de la Dcouverte; open-air panels and photomontages for the Agriculture Pavilion, in co-operation with Charlotte Perriand. Sets and costumes for Naissance dune cit by JeanRichard Bloch, at the Winter Velodrome, with music by Roger Dsormires and Jean Wiener, and music from the songs of Darius Milhaud and Arthur Honegger. Lecture La couleur dans le monde in Antwerp (in Fonctions, op. cit.). Trip to Helsinki with Simone Herman for the exhibition Lger-Calder, at the Artek gallery. He meets Alvar Aalto. 19381939 Exhibition in London and Brussels. September 1938 March 1939: third stay in the United States. Lecture at Yale University. He spends some time in John Dos Passos house in Princeton and on Long Island, at the home of Wallace K. Harrison, who he met in France in 1927. Mural paintings for Nelson A. Rockefeller Jr.s apartment in New York. For the Worlds Fair in New York, a mural painting for the Consolidated Edison Company building by the architect Wallace K. Harrison.
Plans for mural paintings for the Briey popular aviation centre (near Nancy), which are never painted. 2 August: the Second World War is declared. 19401941 Lger takes refuge in Normandy, Bordeaux and Marseille. He obtains a visa to travel to the United States via Lisbon. He teaches at Yale University with Henri Focillon, Andr Maurois, Darius Milhaud. Associate lecturer at Mills College, California, in the summer of 1941. Les Plongeurs sur fond jaune. 1942 Les Plongeurs series. Mural paintings for the Harrison residence, Long Island. Start of colour separation. 1943 Stay in Montreal. He meets Father Marie-Alain Couturier, friend of Marie Cuttoli and Henry Laugier. Lger in America, film by Thomas Bouchard in New York and with music by Edgar Varse. 1944 Paysages and Cyclistes series. Lectures in Washington and Saint Louis. Collaborates on Hans Richters film Dreams that money can buy, with Calder, Ernst, Darius Milhaud and Man Ray. Exhibition at the Art Institute of Chicago. 1945 He travels to Montreal, Quebec. Takes part in the exhibition European Artists in America at the Whitney Museum, New York. He joins the French Communist Party. 1946 Reopening of the Fernand Lger studio in Montrouge by Georges Bauquier and Nadia Khodasevich. Exhibition of his American works at the Louis Carr gallery. Lecture at the Sorbonne: Le nouveau ralisme en art. Opening of the Maison de la Pense Franaise. 1947 Through Father Couturier, he is commissioned to create a 7 x 16 m mosaic for the front of the church in Assy (Haute-Savoie), completed in 1949.
1948 Large mural composition for the International Womens Exhibition, the Versailles Door, created by his students. Set and costumes for Le Pas dacier, with choreography by Serge Lifar and music by Sergei Prokofiev. Trip to Poland, to the Wroclaw Congress. 1949 The Lger Studio opens in new premises. It attracts many American artists who arrive with study grants. Retrospective exhibition Fernand Lger 19051949, at the Muse National dArt Moderne in Paris. He creates the illustrations for Les Illuminations, by Rimbaud; Text and illustrations for Le Cirque. First ceramics made with a student in his studio, Roland Brice, based on previous paintings from the years 1930 and 1940. December 1949 January 1950: last overall UAM exhibition under the name Formes utiles. Charlotte Perriand presents Le Corbusier and Lger in the section Synthse des arts (Les Plongeurs sur fond jaune, 1941). 1950 Les Constructeurs series. Sets and costumes for the opera Bolvar, with a script by Jules Supervielle, adapting an original work by Madeleine Milhaud, music by Darius Milhaud and choreography by Serge Lifar. Mosaic for the crypt chapels in the Bastogne memorial (Belgium). Jeanne Lger dies. 1951 Stained glass windows and tapestry for Audincourt church. At the request of Charlotte Perriand, Lger asks his students to create a mural decoration for the French pavilion at the Milan Triennial. Mural decoration for the dining room of the transatlantic liner Lucania. He goes to live at Chevreuse. 1952 On 21 February, Lger marries Nadia Khodasevich, who arrived in France in 1924 to attend his classes and took over the studio in the artists absence. He goes to live at Gif-sur-Yvette, in the Gros Tilleul. Stay in Venice during the Biennial.
Mural for the lobby of the UNO General Assembly in New York, commissioned by the architect Wallace K. Harrison. 1953 Illustrations for Libert, the poem-object by Paul luard. Libert, jcris ton nom. La Partie de campagne. La Grande Parade sur fond rouge. 1954 La Grande Parade (tat definitif). Stained glass windows for Courfaivre church (Switzerland); mosaics and stained glass windows for the University of Caracas; models for a large mosaic decoration for the Gas de France administrative building in Alfortville (carried out in 1955); design for a mosaic for Sao Paulo Opera House (Brazil) (never carried out) by the architect Oscar Niemeyer. Commission for a mosaic for the American Hospital in Saint-L, carried out in 1956. 1955 Trip to Czechoslovakia for the Sokols Congress in Prague. Text Les Spartakiades, published in Mes voyages. Grand Prix at the third Sao Paulo Biennial. Proposition dune synthse des arts, Le Corbusier, F. Lger, C. Perriand. Exhibition held in Tokyo and Osaka by Charlotte Perriand and Junzo Sakakura. It presents three tapestries, 7 polychrome sculptures in ceramics and fifteen model stained glass windows for Audincourt church, all by Lger. Lger dies suddenly on 17 August at Gif-surYvette. 1960 Nadia Lger and Georges Bauquier open the Fernand Lger Museum in Biot (Alpes Maritimes). 1967 Donation to the French State. The museum becomes a national museum. Lgers monumental works outlast him in the materials and techniques he experimented with throughout his life: tapestry, stained glass, mosaics and ceramics, under the responsibility of Georges Bauquier.
67

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FERNAND LGER El cubista afable

Imagen portada: La Partie de campagne, 1954 (fragmento) Tapiz, 300 x 367 cm

Fernand Lger en su taller, calle Notre-Dame-des-Champs, 1937

LGER POUR LGER Dominique Haim Chanin

LGER, EL CUBISTA AFABLE Antonio Niebla

FERNAND LGER El cubista afable

Les Trois Musiciens

FERNAND LGER El cubista afable

Les Loisirs sur fond rouge

FERNAND LGER El cubista afable

Nadia y Fernand Lger con La Branche muse Biot, 1955.

FERNAND LGER El cubista afable

El estudio histrico de la obra se encuentra en la pgina 40 del catlogo.

FERNAND LGER El cubista afable

FERNAND LGER El cubista afable

FERNAND LGER El cubista afable

Composition aux fruits

FERNAND LGER El cubista afable

La Grande Parade sur fond rouge

FERNAND LGER El cubista afable

FERNAND LGER El cubista afable

JULES FERNAND HENRI LGER Cronologa

FERNAND LGER El cubista afable

The affable cubist

Letter from Lger to Simone Herman, September 12, 1935.

LGER POUR LGER Dominique Haim Chanin

LGER, THE AFFABLE CUBIST Antonio Niebla

HISTORICAL STUDY OF THE WORKS Julio Niebla

FERNAND LGER El cubista afable

Donated by the Joseph H. Hirshhorn Foundation in 1972.

Les Trois Musiciens

Les Loisirs sur fond rouge

Composition aux fruits

La Grande Parade sur fond rouge

JULES FERNAND HENRI LGER Chronology

FERNAND LGER El cubista afable

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