Fernand Léger

In this spe­cial an­niver­sary year for the mu­se­um build­ing, the ex­hi­bi­tion Paint­ing in Space casts a new light on one of the most di­verse and in­flu­en­tial artists of mod­er­nism. Fer­nand Léger (1881–1955), a con­tem­po­rary of Pab­lo Pi­cas­so and Ge­orges braque, sought to syn­th­e­size the arts in his work. He made films, cre­at­ed mu­rals for pri­vate homes as well as public build­ings such as the Unit­ed Na­tions Head­quar­ters in New york, and de­signed cos­tumes, the­ater sets, and church win­dows. Paint­ing in Space is the first ret­ro­spec­tive that fo­cus­es on Fer­nand Léger’s mu­rals. For Léger, an ar­chi­tec­tu­ral drafts­man by train­ing, en­gag­ing with built spaces via paint­ing was a ma­jor con­cern. He de­vel­oped close ties to key fig­ures of mod­ern ar­chi­tec­ture around the world.

Paint­ing in Space ex­plores the fruits of this dia­log and traces his de­vel­op­ment from the ear­ly 1920s to his death in 1955. It fea­tures fas­ci­nat­ing and of­ten un­ex­pect­ed­ly ex­per­i­men­tal pro­jects that re­flect dif­fer­ent types of col­lab­o­ra­tion.

The Museum Ludwig in Cologne presented the exhibit "Painting in Space" between April 9 – Ju­ly 3, 2016. If you are interested in our video, please ask for the password!