Paysage fond orange 1953

Fernand Léger made this painting, *Paysage fond orange*, with oil on canvas. Just look at how these flat colors work together to create a sense of depth and space! I think artmaking is about being in the moment, like jazz; here, Léger's doing a visual improvisation! He builds up the surface with these bold colors, mostly opaque, laid down in simple shapes, and then outlines everything in black, like stained glass. The texture is smooth, and it feels controlled, but look closer, especially at that blobby, cloud-like form hovering near the center. See how the edges soften and blur? That's where Léger lets the painting breathe. This is a motif Léger returns to over and over in his work. It's hard not to think of his contemporary Stuart Davis, another formalist who loved to play with the alphabet of the visible world. Léger shows us that painting is a conversation, not a lecture!