Woman with a Book by Leger in the Museum of Modern Art, August 2007

Fernand Léger. (French, 1881-1955). Woman with a Book. 1923. Oil on canvas, 45 3/4 x 32 1/8" (116 x 81.4 cm). Nelson A. Rockefeller Bequest.

Gallery label text
2007

"I had broken down the human body, so I set about putting it together again," Léger said. The smooth surfaces of this volumetric woman, bunch of flowers, and book evoke mechanical parts assembled together. The metallic sheen and tight geometry are stylistic treatments that recur in many of Léger's paintings of this period. After World War I he recast established subjects and themes the still–life, the figure, and interior scenes in simplified forms and primary colors, offering solid, enduring images as France recovered from the devastation of the war.

Text from: www.moma.org/collection/browse_results.php?object_id=80425