Le moteur 1918

Fernand Léger made "Le Moteur," with oil on canvas, at an unknown date. Just look at those colours, laid down flat and proud. The way they push and pull against each other, they are all about process. The texture of the paint is really something. See how Léger allows the brushstrokes to remain visible, each mark a testament to the hand that guided it. The colors are bright and bold, and the surfaces are all flat which creates a dynamic interplay of shapes and forms, it is a flat world. Take that central cylindrical form, cut through with sections of different colours and patterns. It is a machine part maybe, but it is also just a delicious arrangement of tones and textures. Léger's work makes me think of Stuart Davis, another artist who found beauty in the everyday world of shapes and signs. Art is like a big conversation, and everyone is just riffing off each other, trying to make sense of it all.