Fernand L�ger part 4 � �Cirque� lithographs (1)

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This is part 4 of a 5-part post on the works of french artist Fernand L�ger (1881-1955). For biographical notes on L�ger see part 1. Parts 4 and 5 take a look at a selection of images from L�ger's portfolio of lithographs Cirque.

Cirque, published by Verve in 1950, is L�ger�s lithographic masterpiece. After Rouault�s Divertissement in 1943 and Matisse�s Jazz in 1947, although before Chagall�s Cirque in 1967, this was the third book on the subject commissioned by T�riade. The latter was of Greek origin and worked as an art critic in Paris, indeed, he wrote the second-ever monograph on L�ger in 1928. He founded Verve and became one of the major art publishers of the 20th century. On his return from exile in America in 1945, the painter accepted T�riade�s commission. As he felt that the novella which Henry Miller had initially been asked to write was too dark, he wrote the text himself. There were 300 copies of the 113-page book printed by the famous Parisian lithographers Mourlot Fr�res. The spoken tone of the manuscript alternates with colourful gouaches and black ink drawings. L�ger recycles some of his previous writings and applies his aesthetic of contrasts - which is itself worthy of a cinematographic montage - to the images.

�We are experiencing space more than ever before. Man is growing and expanding in all directions; there's a competition to escape and leave behind all earthly constraints, to flee what is solid and concrete. A nervous mobility is taking over the world. Everything is moving and escaping from traditional constraints. Being a painter and feeling so totally unable to resolve this spectacle on a canvas.� Fernand L�ger, Cirque, �ditions Verve, 1950