Still life 1925

Fernand Léger’s 'Still Life', now at the Musée National Fernand Léger in Biot, embodies the artist's vision of modern beauty rooted in the everyday. Léger, who served in World War I, believed in art's power to reconstruct society, reflecting the period's urgent need for renewal. Here, the common objects of domestic life – a bowl of fruit, a covered dish, and a drinking glass – are rendered through bold forms and striking contrasts. The flattening of space and simplification of objects into geometric shapes align with Léger's desire to represent the industrial age. Léger once stated, "I discovered the beauty of the fragment." Note the almost mechanical precision. The artist’s approach mirrors the era's fascination with machines. Yet, in his reduction of form, we see an attempt to distill essential qualities, to reveal the underlying structure of the world.