Artist
Fernand Léger (French, 1881–1955)French, 1881–1955
CultureFrench
Titles
- Untitled (Fireplace Mural)
Date1939
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions113 1/8 × 74 1/2 in. (287.3 × 189.2 cm)
Credit LineMuseum purchase funded by the Caroline Wiess Law Accessions Endowment Fund
Object number2017.296
Current Location
The Nancy and Rich Kinder Building
Gallery 203
Exposé
Explore Further
Department
Modern and Contemporary ArtObject Type
Léger sought opportunities to integrate his
paintings with contemporary design and
architecture, in both Europe and the United
States. In 1938 he was introduced to Nelson
Rockefeller, who invited Léger to decorate
his Park Avenue apartment. This fireplace
mural was installed in Rockefeller’s grand
salon, where it faced a similarly shaped mural
by Henri Matisse, also on view in this gallery.
Taking inspiration from the profile and gardens
of the recently completed Rockefeller Center,
Léger animated his landscape with a buoyant
vibrancy, celebrating the modern spirit
embodied by New York’s newest landmark.
ProvenanceCommissioned from the artist by Nelson A. Rockefeller, New York, 1938; received by the Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1977; released by MoMA, 2016; [Galerie Gmurzynska, Zürich]; purchased by MFAH, 2017.
Exhibition History"Fernand Léger," The Museum of Modern Art, New York, February 15–May 12, 1998.
"Fernand Léger: Painting in Space," Museum Ludwig, Cologne, Germany, April 9–July 3, 2016.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
Verso: Inscribed in red ink, center stretcher: EL 77.446
Recto: Signed and dated, lower right: F. LEGER / 39
Verso: Two printed labels on stretcher (same label, except one has the museum number crossed out): THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART / ARTIST: Fernand LEGER / TITLE: MURAL. / MEDIUM: Oil on canvas. / MUSEUM NO.: E.L.1977.446 DATE: 1939 / THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART, 11 WEST 53 STREET, NEW YORK N.Y. / EL 77 446 (in red ink)
Catalogue raisonnéGeorges Bauquier, Irus Hansma, Claude Lefebvre du Preÿ (eds.), Fernand Léger: Catalogue raisonné de l'oeuvre peint 1954-1955: Supplément et coreections des volumes précédents. Paris: I. et V. Hansma, impr., 2013, no. 1667, color ill. p. 123.
Cataloguing data may change with further research.
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