The Inhuman 1923

Fernand Léger made this gouache painting on paper, called 'The Inhuman', sometime in the early 1920s. Léger must have been feeling pretty bold to try and paint the inhuman! It’s like, how do you even start? I imagine him in his studio, puzzling over this very question. What does inhuman even look like? The palette is subdued - all greys, blacks, and off-whites. It's very graphic, with geometric shapes and bold lettering. Look at the way he layers these elements - the hard edges and flat planes feel very modern. Léger was into machines, and you can see that here. Everything’s precise, clean. It’s a conversation between the mechanical and the organic, and it speaks to the tension and the possibilities of the Machine Age. I wonder what a painter will make of the inhuman a hundred years from now…