Mise-en-scène for the ballet La Création du monde 1922

Fernand Léger made this stage set design in 1922, probably using charcoal or graphite. Just imagine him drawing, smudging the charcoal, and building up those shadowy planes to evoke a sense of space. Léger was really into the idea of the machine and how it was changing the world. You can see that influence here, in the way he’s broken down these figures into geometric forms. I wonder what he was thinking about when he was making it? Did he have to work closely with the choreographer and the musicians? Or did he come up with the set on his own, from his imagination? There’s such a mix of styles here, from the angular, cubist-inspired figures to the more surreal, dreamlike landscape. These figures seem to echo African masks. Artists are always borrowing ideas from each other, across time and cultures. It makes you think about how we're all part of this ongoing conversation, each of us building on what came before. It’s not about copying, but about reinterpreting, responding, and pushing things forward.