Collections Database

Description:
abstract

Label Text:
Rather than depicting a particular machine, this painting makes more general reference to machinery in its assemblage of tubular and gleaming metallic forms. Like other artists of the Machine Age of the 1920s, Léger was inspired by sleek industrial design and especially by automobiles, declaring that “the beautiful machine is the modern beautiful subject.” The components of this painting have a visual analogue in the popular car magazines and auto “salons” of the period, which often displayed engine sections, internal systems, and parts. Its dynamic composition and interpenetrating forms evoke mechanical power and motion.

Subjects:
Canvas

Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=SC+1954.75

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