Dessin de guerre c. 1915

Fernand Léger created this sketch, titled "Dessin de Guerre," using pen and white gouache. Léger served in the French army during World War I, an experience that profoundly shaped his artistic vision. How did war, this great leveler of men, impact how Léger saw the world? In "Dessin de Guerre," the machinery of war is rendered in a style that anticipates his later focus on the beauty of machines and modern life. During the war, Léger said he was "staggered by the sight of the breech of a 75-millimeter gun in full sunlight," and he became infatuated with the "beauty of the metallic object." The abstracted forms suggest the chaos and brutality of war, yet there's also a sense of awe. The drawing offers a stark contrast to traditional representations of war, which often glorified heroism and national pride. Instead, Léger presents a fragmented, almost Cubist, view of the war, reflecting the sense of disorientation and the dehumanizing effects of modern warfare. It leaves us pondering the emotional and physical impact of war.