Fernand Léger

A major figure of the post-World War I artistic philosophy called Purism, Léger sought to incorporate qualities of harmony and balance into his compositions while still rooting them in contemporary life. This sheet, a study for a painting in the collection of Tate Britain, shows a beer mug on a tabletop. The subject is particularly meaningful in light of Léger's valorization of the French working class. He once said, "The Beautiful is everywhere; perhaps more in the arrangement of your saucepans on the white walls of your kitchen than in your eighteenth-century living room or in the official museums." In this sheet, patterns drawn on the surface of the mug echo the contours of the vessel as well as other objects on the table, including an open book and plates with food. These patterns rhyme with the drapery at right and in the background. The checkered kitchen floor is treated as pure pattern, tipped up so that it is nearly parallel to the picture plane.