Léger, Fernand, Model for Circus, 1950
1950
Model for Cirque, Paris
Tériade éditeur, 1950, p. 90
Pencil, gouache, Indian ink on paper
31.9 x 23.3 cm
Signed by the artist in India ink, lower center
Catalog raisonné: Saphire 94
The publisher Tériade commissions Fernand Léger to produce the illustrated book Cirque, with both text and images printed in lithography by Mourlot. In this book, Fernand Léger compares the exciting life of the country cyclist (himself) with that of the acrobat.
The circus is a recurring theme in the artist’s pictorial universe. Like many moderns, he often went to the Cirque d’Hiver and the Medrano circus. But the show is above all a pretext for reflection on art: it is a metaphor for modern life, as it condenses agitation and simultaneity into a single performance.
“Nothing is as round as the circus (…) It doesn’t stop, everything follows on. The ring dominates, commands, absorbs.”
This original plate is the definitive model for one of the 63 lithographs in the book. The image is part of the episode on fortune-telling:
“Your future is in your hand, give your hand. Miss Athena, Miskouska, Dania will tell you your fate. In the shadow of the circus, at a respectful distance, the mysterious little shack has (…)”.
Vivid colors and interwoven shapes convey the intensity of this experience, where all the senses are heightened.
About the author
Fernand Léger (1881-1951)
Fernand Léger’s work is both highly personal and imbued with the major trends of modernism that characterized the first half of the 20th century. Color, the decomposition of form, the rhythm of modern life and the city and its mechanistic imagery are omnipresent in his work. His distinctive way of describing volumes earned him the name “tubiste” coined by critic Louis Vauxcelles.
