The yellow flame 1952

Fernand Léger made this ceramic relief titled, *The Yellow Flame,* in 1952. Just imagine him, carefully layering the bright yellow glaze, building up a sinuous form that seems to flicker and dance before our eyes. It’s funny, I think about the possibilities of making—the physicality of it, the way the hand moves. When Léger was making this, was he thinking about the way the yellow would pop against the stark black and white? Or was he just feeling the joy of the color itself? The surface looks so smooth and shiny. I bet it was fun to touch before it went into the kiln. Léger’s simplification of form feels radical and really shows how he saw the world. It is a reminder that artists are in a constant conversation, each one building upon the ideas of those who came before. It invites us to embrace ambiguity and find our own meaning.