La Chaise jaune 1946

Fernand Léger made this painting, called *La Chaise jaune,* with oil on canvas, but when I look at it, I can’t help but think that it might have come into being with poster paint, because of the bold flatness and simple application of colours. I am touched by Léger's struggle to pull together all these things, all these shapes, to make a cohesive and satisfying whole! I see him painting the black shapes and then putting the yellow in! I wonder what he might have been thinking as he made it. I am amazed that Léger was able to make this work, and that artists make paintings at all. The history of painting is so long, so amazing. Painting connects the artist's heart and mind with the history of art! It is a very big thing. There’s the legacy of Picasso in here but it is very much its own thing. Each artist looks at the previous generation and pushes things on.