Clowns et chevaux 1954

Fernand Léger made this painting, Clowns et chevaux, with thick black outlines and a primary color palette. I imagine him standing in front of the canvas, loaded brush in hand, thinking about circus performers. Those horses, though! They're like simplified machines, all cylinders and planes. And the clowns, with their exaggerated features, are kind of unsettling, but in a good way. Léger's simplified forms and bold colors remind me of other artists who were trying to capture the energy of modern life. There's a connection here to Picasso. And that one black shape...it looks like a smiling face, maybe a child’s toy. What might Léger have been thinking as he placed that brush stroke? Painters, we're all in conversation, you know? Léger's work reminds us that painting is a way of thinking, a way of feeling, and a way of making sense of the world, even when it doesn't quite make sense.