Le médaillon bleu 1928

Fernand Léger made this painting with oil on canvas, and it’s like he's piecing together different shapes and images to create a new kind of reality. The colors are pretty simple: yellows, grays, blacks, and that striking blue that gives the piece its name. Looking at it, you can see Léger is really into the surface. The paint is laid down smoothly, without a lot of texture. It's almost like he's trying to flatten everything out, to make the different elements sit side by side without blending too much. The dark gray lines that trace the leaves and branches are a key motif: notice how they curve across the scene, weaving through the geometric background. They're both part of the image, and separate from it, like he's drawing with paint. Léger was working at the same time as Picasso and Braque, but he took Cubism in his own direction, focusing on bold forms and clear lines. His work really opens up the possibilities of how we see and understand the world.