Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art

About this Work

Painted in a stark, geometric style known as Purism, Composition made its first public appearance in 1925 at the internationally acclaimed Exposition des Arts Décoratifs in Paris. At this exposition, which featured interior design in the burgeoning “Art Deco” style, Composition hung prominently in the Pavillon de l’Esprit Nouveau. The pavilion was designed by the radically modernist architect Le Corbusier, who applied the Purist style to architecture. Le Corbusier advocated a close interaction between architecture, interior design, and painting, and Léger probably conceived of Composition with the pavilion in mind. In fact, he termed it a “mural painting,” indicating its function as a site-specific work.