Les Papillons dans la roue 1944

Fernand Léger made *Les Papillons dans la roue* with oil on canvas, and what strikes me is the way he fearlessly orchestrates this visual carnival. Look at how these flat planes of color—red, blue, green, yellow—collide and harmonize, all bounded by decisive black outlines. It’s like he's building a world from a kit of elemental forms. The way he handles the paint—thick in some spots, almost translucent in others—tells a story of process, not perfection. See that wheel, how it's both present and dissolving into abstraction? It’s a testament to Léger’s fascination with modern life, with machinery and the dynamism of the urban landscape. The butterflies add a touch of whimsy and freedom to this otherwise structured composition. Léger’s bold approach to color and form reminds me a little of Stuart Davis, another artist who reveled in the beauty of the everyday, translating it into a uniquely American modernism. It’s a reminder that art is always in conversation, building on the past to invent new ways of seeing.