Sixty Works by Modern Masters - Flipbook - Page 83
Fernand Léger
"The object in modern painting must become
the main character and overthrow the subject.
If, in turn, the human form becomes an object,
it can considerably liberate possibilities for the
modern artist."
Fernand Léger
French, 1881 - 1955
La Partie de Campagne, 1953-54
Oil on canvas
23 x 36 inches / 60 x 92.1 cm
Signed and dated lower right: F. LEGER 53-54
Signed again, titled and dated on the reverse: F LEGER 53-54 ESQUISSE POUR LA PARTIE DE CAMPAGNE
La Partie de Campagne was a title
given by Léger to a series of about
a dozen works, completed towards
the end of his life, depicting figures
in the outdoors enjoying picnics
and weekend excursions. As with
many of Léger’s preferred subjects,
and in keeping with the artist’s
left-wing political sympathies, the
Partie de Campagne series was
concerned with representing the
leisure activities of ordinary working
citizens.
The present work evokes an
established visual tradition dealing
with the intertwined themes of joie
de vivre and the fête champêtre,
which had been revived in painting
by earlier artists such as Manet,
Renoir and Cézanne.
Provenance
Galerie Theo, Madrid
Private collection
This painting is accompanied by a certificate of
authentication kindly issued by Irus Hansma.
The painting is listed in the Fernand Léger
Archive, no. 348, and is to be included in
the forthcoming supplement to the catalogue
raisonné, Fernand Léger, volume IX
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