Musée National Fernand Léger

Category: Art & Architecture

Location: Biot, France

There are many great art museums on and around the Côte d’Azur.

The particular light of this region has for hundreds of years attracted some of the world’s foremost artists, and their legacies still resonate in the area.

The work of Fernand Léger is instantly recognizable through his very personal interpretation of cubism: Coined “tubism” by art critic Louis Vauxcelles, who meant it in a derogatory way, referring to the Léger’s consistent use of cylindrical shapes, it could be seen as a reflection of Léger’s formal training as an architect.

Already in 1914, Léger’s paintings (which had until then been inspired by impressionism) started to become increasingly abstract, rendered in rough patches of primary colours.

Léger was an optimist and saw great potential in all things modern, believing in the progression promised by new technology.

Perhaps this was also the reason that he started traveling to the States in the early 1930s (where he a few years later was commissioned to decorate Nelson Rockefeller’s apartment).

In 1955, Fernand Léger bought a villa in Biot, but died only a few months after the purchase had gone through. His widow, Nadia Léger, and Léger-collector Georges Bauquier, decided to honour his contribution to art history by converting the site of the villa into a museum.

Designed by architect Andreï Svetchine (who also performed the restoration work of nearby hotel and restaurant Colombe d’Or), the building is known for its large exterior mosaics as well as its garden, designed by Henri Fish, which contains sculptures based on Léger’s work.

Originally a private museum, it has been owned by the French state since 1969.