Trouville 1921

Fernand Léger painted 'Trouville' in France using oil on canvas; it's a real whopper of a painting. The colour palette in this artwork is so cool—there's an unusual mix of grey, black and white with ochre and reds. These almost geometric figures feel monumental; they have a strong presence that feels statuesque. There's a stillness to the work. What I find fascinating is how Léger balances the abstract with the figurative. He reduces figures to these simplified forms, almost like cylinders and cones, but you still get the sense of human presence. The colours are so solid, like pure pigments brought into contact on the canvas. They are so carefully placed in relation to each other, you know? Like the other Fauvist painters, I am sure he was thinking about the relationships between different parts of the canvas. It shows how artists are always in conversation with each other, inspiring new modes of seeing and thinking. It really emphasizes how painting is all about embodied expression.