Mechanical Elements on red background 1924

Fernand Léger made this painting, Mechanical Elements on red background, with oil on canvas, and it’s now hanging in the Musée National Fernand Léger in France. It’s all about flat planes of color, right? Léger isn’t trying to trick us into seeing depth. He’s laying down these shapes like a builder stacking blocks, and the slightly shiny surface of the paint lends a kind of cool, industrial feel. I love how the red background pushes everything forward, almost like the forms are about to detach and become a sculpture. Look at that thick red slash. It’s not trying to be anything but a red slash, and it cuts through the whole composition like a dare. It’s bold, but it’s also carefully placed, like the linchpin holding all the other shapes together. You can almost see Léger moving around the canvas, figuring out where each piece should go. It’s like he’s having a conversation with the shapes themselves, nudging them into place until they start to hum. Think of how the American artist, Stuart Davis, used the same sorts of shapes a bit later, but with an interest in consumerism and pop culture. Art is just this conversation happening across time, one artist answering another.