With few exceptions, the objects on the table defy identification. Léger did not aim for a descriptive rendering of things, but rather, scintillating optical vibrancy. In his studies for the Contrasts of Forms series, Léger transformed traditional chiaroscuro. Instead of modeling with intermediary tones, he juxtaposed strokes of black and white (shadow and highlight) and circumscribed them with black contour lines.
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Inscription: Signed and dated (lower right, in black ink): FL 13; inscribed (lower right, in graphite): nature / morte
[Galerie Kahnweiler, Paris, 1914; possibly inv. no. 2255; sequestered Galerie Kahnweiler stock, December 12, 1914–23; fourth Galerie Kahnweiler sale, Hôtel Drouot, Paris, May 7, 1923, no. 69 (comprised of 39 works on paper), sold for Fr 355, to Rosenberg]; [Galerie L’Effort Moderne (Léonce Rosenberg), Paris, 1923–36; inv. no. 7972; sold in January 1936, for £4, to Cooper]; Douglas Cooper, London (1936–d. 1984; inv. no. 73, estate no. DC 5G 274; his bequest to McCarty Cooper); his partner and adopted son, William McCarty Cooper, London (1984–86; sold in November 1986 to Lauder); Leonard A. Lauder, New York (1986–13; transferred on April 8, 2013 to the Leonard A. Lauder Cubist Trust); The Leonard A. Lauder Cubist Trust, New York (2013–16; gift to MMA)
London. Tate Gallery. "Fernand Léger: An Exhibition of Paintings, Drawings, Lithographs and Book Illustrations," February 17–March 19, 1950, no. 48.
Leeds. City Art Gallery. "Fernand Léger: An Exhibition of Paintings, Drawings, Lithographs and Book Illustrations," April 1950, no. 40.
Suffolk. Lowestoft Art Centre. "Exhibition of Contemporary Paintings from the Private Collection of Douglas Cooper, including Original Works by Picasso, Braque, Léger," January 1951.
London. Tate Gallery. "The Essential Cubism, 1907–1920: Braque, Picasso & their friends," April 27–July 10, 1983, extended to July 31, 1983, no. 108.
Kunstmuseum Basel. "Douglas Cooper und die Meister des Kubismus," November 22, 1987–January 17, 1988, no. 30.
London. Tate Gallery. "Douglas Cooper and the Masters of Cubism," February 3–April 4, 1988, no. 30.
Philadelphia Museum of Art. "Picasso, Braque, Léger, Gris: Drawings from the Douglas Cooper Collection," June 16–July 31, 1988, no catalogue.
Houston. Museum of Fine Arts. "Picasso, Braque, Gris, Léger: Douglas Cooper Collecting Cubism," October 14–December 30, 1990, no. 28.
Los Angeles County Museum of Art. "Picasso, Braque, Gris, Léger: Douglas Cooper Collecting Cubism," January 31–April 21, 1991, no. 28.
Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg. "Fernand Léger, 1911–1924: Der Rhythmus des modernen Lebens," May 29–August 14, 1994, no. 91.
Kunstmuseum Basel. "Fernand Léger, 1911–1924: Der Rhythmus des modernen Lebens," September 11–November 27, 1994, no. 91.
Paris. Musée National d'Art Moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou. "Fernand Léger," May 29–September 29, 1997, unnumbered cat. (p. 50).
Madrid. Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía. "Fernand Léger," October 28, 1997–January 12, 1998, unnumbered cat.
Boston. Museum of Fine Arts. "Facets of Cubism," December 7, 2005–April 16, 2006, unnum. brochure (ill.).
Charlottesville. University of Virginia Art Museum. "Fernand Leger: Contrasts of Form," January 19–March 18, 2007, no. 8.
Cambridge, Mass. Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University Art Museums. "Fernand Leger: Contrasts of Form," April 14–June 10, 2007, no. 8.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Cubism: The Leonard A. Lauder Collection," October 20, 2014–February 16, 2015, no. 36.
Fernand Léger: An Exhibition of Paintings, Drawings, Lithographs and Book Illustrations. Exh. cat., Tate Gallery. London, 1950, unpaginated, no. 48.
Douglas Cooper and Gary Tinterow. The Essential Cubism: Braque, Picasso & their friends, 1907–1920. Exh. cat., Tate Gallery. London, 1983, p. 226, no. 108, ill. p. 227.
Dorothy M. Kosinski. Douglas Cooper and the Masters of Cubism. Exh. cat., Kunstmuseum Basel. Basel, 1987, pp. 105, 108, 206, no. 30, ill. pp. 12 (on display in Cooper's Château de Castille, Argilliers, France, ca. 1955), 106.
Dorothy M. Kosinski. Picasso, Braque, Gris, Léger: Douglas Cooper Collecting Cubism. Exh. cat., Museum of Fine Arts. Houston, 1990, pp. 14, 52 n. 55, p. 61, no. 28, ill. p. 9, fig. 8 (on display in Douglas Cooper’s Château de Castille, Argilliers, ca. 1955).
Dorothy M. Kosinski, ed. Fernand Léger, 1911–1924: The Rhythm of Modern Life. Exh. cat., Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg. Munich, 1994, pp. 110, 246, no. 91, ill. p. 111 (German ed., 1990, pp. 110, 247, no. 91, ill. p. 111).
Christian Derouet, ed. Correspondances Fernand Léger–Léonce Rosenberg, 1917–1937. Paris, 1996, pp. 113–14, no. 162, n. 1, p. 272, inv. no. 7972.
Fernand Léger. Exh. cat., Centre Georges Pompidou. Paris, 1997, p. 51, ill. no. 4, ill. p. 50.
Facets of Cubism. Exh. brochure, Museum of Fine Arts. Boston, 2005, unpaginated, ill. (color).
Matthew Affron. Fernand Léger: Contrasts of Forms. Exh. cat., University of Virginia Art Museum. Charlottesville, 2007, pp. 8, 40, no. 8, ill. p. 41.
Fernand Léger: Contrasts of Forms. Exh. brochure, University of Virginia Art Museum. Charlottesville, 2007, unpaginated, ill.
"Objects Promised to the Museum during the Year 2012–2013." The Metropolitan Museum of Art, One Hundred Forty-third Annual Report of the Trustees for the Fiscal Year July 1, 2012, through June 30, 2013 (2013), p. 46.
Matthew Affron inCubism: The Leonard A. Lauder Collection. Ed. Emily Braun and Rebecca Rabinow. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2014, p. 92, no. 36, ill. p. 94 (color).
Anna Jozefacka and Luise Mahler inCubism: The Leonard A. Lauder Collection. Ed. Emily Braun and Rebecca Rabinow. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2014, pp. 270–71, fig. 36 (on display in the residence of Douglas Cooper, Château de Castille, Argilliers, France, ca. 1955).
"The Leonard A. Lauder Cubist Collection: A Conversation with Emily Braun and Pepe Karmel." IFAR Journal 16, no. 3 (2015), p. 43, fig.19A (color).
Written on the verso (upper center, in pencil): 7972 [Galerie L’Effort Moderne inv. no.]; (lower right, in pencil): 2255 [possibly Galerie Kahnweiler inv. no.]
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