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The Builders

1920
Not on view
The quintessential painter of the machine age, Léger observed the effects of modern technology in the trenches as a solider in the French army during World War I. Featuring workers whose bodies appear to be assembled from standardized industrial parts, The Builders exemplifies the style that Léger developed after the war to convey his belief that all of modern life was succumbing to the machine. He wrote in a letter in 1922, "The contemporary environment is clearly the manufactured and ‘mechanical’ object; this is slowly subjugating the breasts and curves of women, fruit, the soft landscape."

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: The Builders
  • Artist: Fernand Léger (French, Argentan 1881–1955 Gif-sur-Yvette)
  • Date: 1920
  • Medium: Oil on canvas
  • Dimensions: 25 3/4 × 36 1/4 in. (65.4 × 92.1 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: The Muriel Kallis Steinberg Newman Collection, Gift of Muriel Kallis Newman, 2006
  • Object Number: 2006.32.36
  • Rights and Reproduction: © 2025 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
  • Curatorial Department: Modern and Contemporary Art

More Artwork

More Artwork
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Six Designs for Abstract Wall Decorations, Fernand Léger French, Graphite and gouache
Six Designs for Abstract Wall Decorations
Fernand Léger
ca. 1940–1955
'Starfish and Swimmers': Design for a Mosaic or Mural, Fernand Léger French, Brush and yellow, red, green and beige wash, and graphite
'Starfish and Swimmers': Design for a Mosaic or Mural
Fernand Léger
ca. 1942
The Bargeman, Fernand Léger French, Oil on canvas
The Bargeman
Fernand Léger
1918
Mechanical Elements, Fernand Léger French, Oil on canvas
Mechanical Elements
Fernand Léger
1920
Rooftops, Fernand Léger French, Ink and opaque watercolor on paper
Rooftops
Fernand Léger
1915

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