Discs 1918

Fernand Léger made "Discs" with oil on canvas, and you can see how the colours are laid down with a real attention to process. It's like he's building with shapes and colours instead of just depicting them. The surface is really interesting; Léger's application is deliberate, almost mechanical, creating smooth surfaces and sharp contrasts. I like the way the bold black lines emphasize the flatness of the canvas, which kind of throws the whole notion of depth into question, doesn't it? Look at the orange triangle near the top – how it's balanced by the curve of the discs. There's this interplay between the geometric and the organic that gives the painting its energy, that moves your eye around the canvas. Léger's work reminds me a bit of Sonia Delaunay, with her bright colours and geometric shapes. But where Delaunay feels playful and intuitive, Léger is more controlled, more focused on structure. But I love that they both embrace the idea of painting as a dynamic, evolving language.