1900 - 1919: Fernand Leger moved to Paris in 1900 and studied at the Ecole des Arts Decoratifs and Academie Julian. His first big influence was the work of Cezanne and he developed ties with leading Cubists and other great artists including Matisse, Rousseau and Apollinaire. He created his own quirky Cubist style which greatly influenced the development of Cubism, Constructivism, the modern poster and other forms of applied art. During the first world war Leger encountered modern technology in the form of weaponry and was enthralled by their power and precision.
1920’s: Inspired by technology and influenced by Purism and the Neo -Classicism practised by Picasso and others, Leger developed his own form of mechanistic classicism which used precision, geometry and monumental rendering to depict modern machines and people.
1930’s: The influence of Surrealism loosened Leger’s style allowing a more curvilinear representation than he had used before.
1940 - 1955: Leger taught at Yale and at Mills College in California between 1940 and 45. By then his subject matter was predominately drawn from the workplace and was post-Cubist in form combining with the representational clarity of Realism. He returned to France and before he died bought an old mas - farm house - below Biot with the intention of creating large sculptures in the garden. He died near Paris in 1955.
1957 :Leger’s daughter Nadia worked with Georges Bauquler and the architect Paul Nelson to create a museum near the old Mas dedicated to showing his works. The first stone was laid in 1957.
