Fernand Léger is seen as a “realistic” painter, in tune with the elements of the modern life. From the 1920s to the end of the Second World War, he created disconcerting object associations, playing with scale shortages, the spatial disposition of floating objects or biomorphic patterns. The artist was committed to a “realism of conception”, which he defined as a realism of the line, form and color. But, he also seemed attracted to the plastic experimentations of the surrealists. Resulting from an intense observation of reality, Léger’s work also embodies the imaginary and conveys a new lyric strength. This double exhibition at the Museum of Fine Arts in Nantes and the Museum Fernand Léger in Biot aim to explore the relations of Léger’s work to the principle of the surrealist movement, which could seem far from his concerns. Fernand Léger: Reconstruire le réel highlights the similarities between two very different worlds but, being contemporary, can however present some complicity.

Exhibition presented
Museum of Fine Arts, Nantes
from June 19 to September 22, 2014