La parade sur fond jaune c. 1950

Fernand Léger made ‘La parade sur fond jaune’ with oil on canvas, and right away, you notice this yellow, right? It’s not just background, it’s a mood. Léger uses these thick black outlines to define the figures, and then fills them in with flat colors. It’s almost like he's building with blocks, or making a poster. Look at the way the paint sits on the surface, kind of dry and chalky. You can tell he wasn’t trying to blend or create soft edges; it’s all about that bold, graphic impact. The clown’s costume, for example, is broken into a pattern of shapes. The artist is treating all the elements equally. The way Léger flattens everything out reminds me of early Picasso, but with a more playful energy. Léger seems to embrace the ambiguity of images. He’s not trying to tell you exactly what to see, but inviting you to participate in the visual game.