Umbrella and Bowler 1926

Fernand Léger made this painting of an umbrella and bowler hat with oil on canvas. It's all about these simplified forms, right? Léger is playing with basic shapes to build a world that feels both familiar and totally new. Look at the umbrella, the way the paint is laid down so flat, almost mechanical, but still with this subtle, soft glow. Then there's the bowler hat perched on the chair. The texture is so smooth, so even, that it’s hard to imagine a brush even touched it. It’s like he's trying to erase any trace of his own hand, but somehow the painting is still so…human. I'm reminded of Giorgio de Chirico, with the way he emptied out cityscapes of people. It gives you the same feeling of, like, “where did everyone go?” Léger isn’t about answers though. It’s all just this open-ended question about what it means to see.