Trouville 1950

Fernand Léger made this drawing, called Trouville, on paper with ink, I guess sometime around 1950. It’s just a jumble of bold lines, but you can tell he's feeling the rhythm of the seaside. There's something so confident about how Léger just lays down these thick, black lines. Look at the way he defines shapes – not with shading or detail, but with pure, graphic boldness. The texture of the paper peeks through, giving it a raw, immediate feel, like a quick sketch. The way the forms overlap, the way the lines vary in thickness – it’s all about process, about the act of seeing and recording. That thick diagonal bar, running almost from top to bottom, anchors the whole composition. It’s solid, unwavering, and it pushes everything else around it. For me, it makes the whole thing feel so alive, like a visual dance. It kind of makes me think of some of Picasso’s line drawings. Ultimately, it reminds me that art isn’t about perfection. It’s more about exploration.