Galerie Louise Leiris, Paris
Perls Galleries, New York
Sale: Sotheby's, New York, November 12, 1988, lot 217
Private Collection, New York (acquired at the above sale)
Sale: Finarte, Lugano, October 10, 1992, lot 222
Private Collection, Switzerland

New York, Helly Nahmad Gallery, Fernand Léger, 2005, no. 5, illustrated in color in the catalogue

This work is in overall good condition. Executed on thick cream wove paper, not laid down, attached to the mount at the upper two corners. There are artist's pinholes to all four corners and the sheet is slightly timestained. Small paperlosses to the lower corners and the upper right corner. 3.5cm-long repaired tear to the center of the left edge and two very small ones to the center of the upper edge (all of which are well away from the image). There is tape along all four extreme edges of the verso and a few very fine lines of craquelure to the white horizontal bar in the right half of the composition.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Painted in a vivid, mostly primary palette, Nature morte au buste is a testament to the artist’s unreserved faith in color, a defining element of Léger’s entire oeuvre. The present work is an excellent example of the artist’s still lifes from the late 1920s in that it shows everyday objects placed next to abstract forms on a one-dimensional picture plane. The bottles and the bowler hat appear no less flat, reduced to pure geometric shapes.

Léger himself explained the abstract element of his painting: “The realistic value of a work of art is completely independent of any imitative character. This truth should be accepted as dogma and made axiomatic in the general understanding of painting… Pictorial realism is the simultaneous ordering of three great plastic components: Lines, Forms and Colours” (quoted in Dorothy Kosinski, (ed.), Fernand Léger, 1911-1924, The Rhythm of Modern Life, Munich & New York, 1994, pp. 66-67).

By presenting colors and shapes in such harmony, the present work has a decorative quality entirely independent of the original identity of the objects depicted. Nature morte au buste wonderfully illustrates the artist’s handling of color and shape that make his work so radical and modern. Gouache in partic🍃ular complements Léger’s style here in its ꦛdirect quality and pure, brilliant tonality.