Bird among Flowers c. 1950 - 1952

Fernand Léger made this piece, called 'Bird among Flowers,' sometime in the 20th century, and it's hard to tell what it’s made from, probably metal or plaster, but it has the look of bronze. The carving is like a bas-relief, with clear lines and shapes. The bird and the flowers aren't super realistic, but they have this blocky, modern feel, which I love. It's like Léger is playing with how we see things, simplifying them down to their basic forms, and the surface texture and the way light hits it makes you want to reach out and touch it. I keep thinking about the way Léger lets the bird’s wing merge into one of the petals, like some weird organic Cubism. It makes me think about how he was part of that whole early 20th-century thing, like Picasso and Braque, where they were trying to break things down and show different views all at once. And how it’s still an active conversation today.