Femme à la Rose: Fernand Léger

November 14, 2026 By: Alicia

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Following an exhibition of Fernand Léger’s early works in the United States, the critic Henry McBride wrote: “Léger speaks through a use of symbols that ought to be legible indeed to Americans, since these symbols consist for the most part of machines, the things upon which American civilization rests.”[1] Léger breaks from this early ideology to focus on the human figure combined with organic elements in the late 1920s.
Fernand Léger (1881-1955), French
FEMME À LA ROSE, 1931
ink and graphite on paper, 8.9 x 12.2 in — 22.5 x 31 cm

Léger explained his approach to the human figure, “For me the human figure, the human body is no more important than keys or bicycles. That’s true. For me they are objects valuable for their artistic potentiality and disposable according to my will […] It was necessary for the modern artist to detach himself from this sentimental grip in order to see more clearly.
We have overcome this obstacle: the object has replaced the subject; abstract art came as a complete revelation, and then we were able to consider the human figure as a plastic value, not as a sentimental value. That is why in the development of my work from 1905 to the present day, the human figure has stayed intentionally inexpressive.
“Drawn in 1931, Femme à la Rose is an unpublished work by Léger focusing on the impassive head of a woman. Loose pages from a sketchbook are behind her and a large rose in full bloom is on her right side. Also present is a mysterious hand, possibly the artist’s, in the left corner holding the sketchbook. In this drawing, Léger presents women as anonymous and universal figures, an effect made even stronger by their enigmatic, stoic gazes. Femme à la Rose is a strong example of the “figure-object,” which is central to Léger’s work.
[1] Helen Duffy, Fernand Léger, une esthétique de la modernité, Vie des arts, 1982, p. 96.
Accompanied by a certificate of authenticity issued on 28 May 2026 by the Comité Léger, Paris.
ABOUT THE AUCTION
Headlining our major fall 2026 Canadian & International Fine Art auction are works by renowned Canadian artists Cornelius Krieghoff, Gordon Appelbe Smith, Frederick Arthur Verner, A.J. Casson, A.Y. Jackson, and William Kurelek, alongside international offerings by Edouard Cortès and Henri Lebasque. Also featured is a collection of works by Georges Mathieu, David Milne, and Eduardo Paolozzi from an Important Private Collection. Additional highlights include exceptional, unpublished works by Fernand Léger and Sir Alfred James Munnings.
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