L’ARAIGNÉE VERTE 1938

Fernand Léger put oil to canvas to make 'L’ARAIGNÉE VERTE', and when? Well, that we don't know, exactly. But I can imagine the studio it came out of... There's a dance of geometric forms here: hard edges, curves, and biomorphic shapes all jumbled together in dynamic tension. The palette is like a primary-color playground, offset with touches of green and black, anchored in the center by a 'green spider'. Léger must have been thinking about how to create a sense of depth and movement while still keeping everything flattened and graphic. The paint looks pretty thin, scrubbed into the canvas, which heightens the sense of a world seen through a lens, a modern lens. The black lines give the painting a strong graphic quality – like he’s drawing with the paint, mapping out a new kind of space. It reminds me a bit of Picasso and Braque, but also anticipates some later hard-edge abstraction. It all makes me think about how artists build on each other's ideas, pushing painting forward through conversation and experimentation.