Image size: 28 1/4" x 20 3/8"; Framed size: 38 1/2" x 30"
Catalogue reference: Saphire 41

Born in the Normandy town of Argentan, Léger first trained as an architectural apprentice in Caen. In 1900 he moved to Paris and enrolled in the École des Arts Décoratifs. Taking a studio in La Ruche and later in Montparnasse, he met such artists as Delaunay, Chagall, Archipenko and Lipchitz and the writers Reverdy, Jacob, Apollinaire and Cendraars with whom he became lifelong friend. For a time his art was aligned with Cubism but his profoundly effecting experiences of World War I (in which he served as a medic) abruptly ended his experimentation with abstract art, choosing instead man, machines, and everyday life as his subjects.

Best know as a painter, Léger made a significant contribution to the graphic medium, creating 142 original prints (mostly for editions of art books) between 1920 and his death in 1955. These graphic works echo the pictorial concerns and grand themes that preoccupied the artist through-out his life.