Paysage animé 1937

Fernand Léger made "Paysage animé" using oil on canvas. The word "animé" translates to animated or lively, and you can see that in the way Léger's built up the composition. The colours and shapes are bold, and there is an energetic rhythm running throughout. I like the way that the tubular forms are clearly defined but the spaces between them are ambiguous. You can’t quite work out what’s in front of what, and where one thing ends and another begins. I think it’s interesting to see how the artist made that happen. Take the point at which the blue form meets the red one in the centre. Léger uses white to define the edges of both. Look how the white seems to both separate and connect them at the same time. Léger seems to borrow from cubism but take it in his own direction, I also see notes of Stuart Davis. The overall effect is one of joy in the pure process of painting.