Grande nature morte 1938 - 1939

Fernand Léger made this painting with oil on canvas, using bright colors and bold forms to challenge traditional still life painting. Léger used flat planes of color and simplified shapes, influenced by Cubism. He applied paint in a way that emphasizes the industrial age, using smooth, machine-like surfaces and a sense of mass production, reflecting his fascination with the modern world and the rise of machinery. The still life references the rise of factories and their workers through mechanical forms, celebrating urban life. Léger saw beauty in the mundane objects of everyday life, which he elevates through his style. The painting's hard edges and simplified forms are a far cry from the illusionistic still lifes of the past. This reflects a shift in artistic values toward abstraction and a recognition of the materials and labor involved in the making of art. Léger blurs the line between fine art and industrial design, inviting us to see the world in a new way.