Leger Cameo

The French painter Fernand Leger (1881-1955) was associated with the Cubism of Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque during the early years of his career. He did not always fit comfortably within that classification, however, and after serving as an army engineer during World War 1, he became fascinated by the mechanical inventions that were changing the course of modern life. Many artists came away from the war embittered by what they had seen of mechanized combat-of such powerful new engines of destruction as the machine gun and the tank-but Leger learned a different lesson. To him, the war instead proved that it was imperative to "humanize" the Machine Age and show its more positive effects on society.