Le chandail vert 1946

Fernand Léger made this painting with oil on canvas, and you can see how the artist has built it up from a series of lines, blocks and marks. The colors are bold: red, green, blue, black and white, like the building blocks of visual experience. I can imagine Léger in his studio, thinking about the relationship between humans and machines, abstraction and figuration. On one side, there is a kind of human figure with a green sweater, on the other, a bunch of objects like a vase. But these objects are also like figures, so the artist is trying to show us how everyday life is always a conversation between things. The black outline is almost like a drawing on top of color, emphasizing flatness while also creating a sense of depth. Painters like Léger teach us to see the world differently. They are in dialogue with each other across time, inspiring new ways of seeing. Painting helps us to embrace uncertainty, leaving room for multiple interpretations.