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Fernand Léger

French, 1881-1955

La fumée (Smoke), 1912

oil on canvas

support: 36 1/4 x 28 3/4 inches (92.07 x 73.02 cm); framed: 46 3/4 x 39 1/2 x 3 inches (118.75 x 100.33 x 7.62 cm)

Collection Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York

Room of Contemporary Art Fund, 1940

RCA1940:15

Collection Highlight

More Details

Inscriptions

signature, dated / lower left / Léger / 12

Provenance

possibly collection Pierre Loeb;
sold to Mary Callery, Paris;
sold to Pierre Matisse Gallery, New York, November 1938;
sold to the Albright Art Gallery, November 17, 1940

Class

Paintings

Work Type

Oil painting

Information may change due to ongoing research.Glossary of Terms

Smoke is one of several of Fernand Léger's studies combining puffs of smoke with a group of buildings. Although this painting is quite abstract, it is possible to make out a large structure with smokestacks in the upper right—presumably the primary source of the smoke that bisects the painting vertically. Other structures can be identified by doors, windows, and roof lines.

Label from Spotlight on the Collection—Artists in Depth: Picasso, Braque, Léger, Delaunay, January 21–June 5, 2011