Léger repurposed Cubist planes as mechanical parts and arranged them across the surface in a juxtaposition of geometric solids and architectural motifs. His postwar figures, from longshoremen to heroic aviators to city dwellers, have steely limbs and a metallic sheen. Even the conical snout and triangular ears of a dog conform to Léger’s new ideas about standardized and functionalist design, which he called his "multiplicative" vision.
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Inscription: Signed (lower center, in black ink): FL. Signed and inscribed [at a later date] (lower center, in brown ink): cordialement / 29 / FLeger
Marking: watermark: LES[-]ANNONAY A LAVIS ANCNE MANUFRE CANSON & MONTG[OLFIER]
Douglas Cooper, London (1938–d. 1984; estate no. DC 112-232; his bequest to McCarty Cooper); his partner and adopted son, William McCarty Cooper, London, (Churchglade Ltd., Switzerland, 1984–89; sold in February 1989 to Lauder); Leonard A. Lauder, New York (1989–13; 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. 56 (as "Two Figures," 1929).
Leeds. City Art Gallery. "Fernand Léger: An Exhibition of Paintings, Drawings, Lithographs and Book Illustrations," April 1950, no. 48.
Kunstmuseum Basel. "Douglas Cooper und die Meister des Kubismus," November 22, 1987–January 17, 1988, no. 35 (as "Zwei Figuren/Two Figures").
London. Tate Gallery. "Douglas Cooper and the Masters of Cubism," February 3–April 4, 1988, no. 35.
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. 34 (as "Two Figures").
Los Angeles County Museum of Art. "Picasso, Braque, Gris, Léger: Douglas Cooper Collecting Cubism," January 31–April 21, 1991, no. 34.
Boston. Museum of Fine Arts. "Facets of Cubism," December 7, 2005–April 16, 2006, not in brochure.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Cubism: The Leonard A. Lauder Collection," October 20, 2014–February 16, 2015, no. 43.
Fernand Léger: An Exhibition of Paintings, Drawings, Lithographs and Book Illustrations. Exh. cat., Tate Gallery. London, 1950, unpaginated, no. 56.
Fernand Léger, 1881–1955. Exh. cat., Staatliche Kunsthalle. Berlin, 1980, p. 611, no. 167, ill. p. 163.
Dorothy M. Kosinski. Douglas Cooper and the Masters of Cubism. Exh. cat., Kunstmuseum Basel. Basel, 1987, pp. 115, 131 n. 122, p. 207, no. 35, ill. p. 117.
Dorothy M. Kosinski. Picasso, Braque, Gris, Léger: Douglas Cooper Collecting Cubism. Exh. cat., Museum of Fine Arts. Houston, 1990, p. 61, no. 34.
"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, as "Two Figures (Deux personnages)".
Christopher Green inCubism: The Leonard A. Lauder Collection. Ed. Emily Braun and Rebecca Rabinow. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2014, pp. 202, 205, 207–8, 213, 319(3)n.37, no. 43, ill. p. 210 (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. 274–75.
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