Fernand Léger, L’Échafaudage au Soleil (The Scaffold Sun), 1951

Artist: Fernand Léger (1881 - 1955)
Title:L’Échafaudage au Soleil (The Scaffold Sun), 1951
Reference:Saphire 112
Medium:Color Lithograph
Image Size:18 in x 13 9/16 in (45.7 cm x 34.4 cm)
Framed Size:29 3/4 in x 33 1/2 in (74.9 cm x 84.5 cm)
Edition:Numbered from the edition of 75 in pencil in the lower left margin; printed by Mourlot, Paris and published by Galerie Louise Leiris, Paris.
Signature:This work is hand signed by Fernand Léger (Argentan, 1881 – Gif-sur-Yvette, 1955) in ink in the lower right margin.
Condition:This work is in excellent condition.
ID #W-5817

Historical Description

Fernand Léger L’Échafaudage au Soleil (The Scaffold Sun), 1951 shows all the signs of industry placed against a brilliant yellow background – highlighting them. You can feel the hot sun beating down across the construction site. Crisscrossing the canvas, going in all directions are steel beams, imitating the chaos of a construction site. This lithograph is part of the Les Constructeurs series that Léger started work on in 1950. Clouds of smoke blot the composition – more evidence of modernism. A few figures are seated on a beam towards the center of the composition – they too are rendered in shades of black and white. Towards the bottom right of the image, the top of a tree pokes out. It is the only sign of nature in this lithograph.

L’Échafaudage au Soleil (The Scaffold Sun), 1951 shows all the beauty of modernity – including the pylons and men that work with them. Les Constructeurs was born out of the wondrous contrast that Léger saw between nature and industry and here he has depicted it stunningly.

Created in 1951, this color lithograph is hand signed by Fernand Léger (Argentan, 1881 – Gif-sur-Yvette, 1955) in ink in the lower right margin and numbered from the edition of 75 in pencil in the lower left margin; printed by Mourlot, Paris; published by Galerie Louise Leiris, Paris.

Catalogue Raisonné & COA:
Fernand Léger The Scaffold Sun (L’Échafaudage au Soleil), 1951 is fully documented and referenced in the below catalogue raisonnés and texts (copies will be enclosed as added documentation with the invoices that will accompany the sale of the work).

1. Saphire, Lawrence. Fernand Leger: The Complete Graphic Work. Blue Moon Press: 1978. Listed and illustrated as catalogue raisonné no. 112 on pg. 178-179.
2. A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany this artwork.

About the Framing:
Framed to museum-grade, conservation standards, Fernand Léger The Scaffold Sun (L’Échafaudage au Soleil), 1951 is presented in a complementary moulding and finished with silk-wrapped mats and optical grade Plexiglas.

Subject Matter: Romantic Classic Under $15k