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Fernand Léger 1881 - 1955 Composition, 1930 Signed with initials and dated 'F.L. 30' Pen and Indian ink on paper 12 ¼ x 9 ¾ in, 31.1 x 24.8 cm Provenance Galerie Louise Leiris, Paris Richard Gray Gallery, Chicago Albert Robin, Chicago Private Collection, Chicago (Bequest from the above to the previous owner) Exhibitions Zagreb, Galerije Grada Zagreba, 'Fernand Léger', October-November 1963 Chicago, International Galleries, 'Léger Retrospective', November-December 1966, no. 27 Literature J. Cassou and J. Leymarie, 'Fernand Léger, Drawings and Gouaches', Greenwich, 1973, p. 109, no. 148 (illustrated) Léger's initial concerns with metropolitan cityscapes transferred from the mid-1920s to focus more intently on the relationship between pure form and colour, forsaking strong architectural elements for rhythmic scatterings of objects in space. This exploration of the 'object in space' relates to Miró's work of this period, notably the Tête de petite fille series of 1931. Here different elements of the 'tête' take on their own individual symbolic and formal meaning, released from exact representation. Miró and Léger met in the 1920s, both sharing a deep friendship with Calder and a personal connection with the ideas of the Surrealists. Whilst Léger never officially became part of the group, Miró and the Surrealists were a constant source of inspiration. Composition is a rare example of where the artist practiced drawing for its own sake allowing his objects to float freely within the composition. Removing any form of support, objects were freed from the constraints of gravity creating a new spatial medium between them. He argued that by allowing his objects to float freely he could be sure of them as objects without diminishing their force or influence. This new train of thought led Léger to extend his iconographic repertoire creating more flexible objects and curved forms, in part demonstrated by the large hook structure in the centre, but more specifically by the threads and connectors between the scattered objects.