Galerie Louise Leiris, Paris (acquired from the artist)
Galerie Beyeler, Basel (acquired from the above in 1968)
Pace Gallery, New York (acquired from the above in 1969)
Acquired from the above in 1973

New York, Pace Gallery, Léger at Pace, 1972, 1972, no. 19, illustrated on the cover of the catalogue

Executed on cream colored paper, hinged to a mount at three places along the top edge on verso. Edges are cut. Several repaired vertical tears extending from the extreme top and bottom edges are visible measuring between 1/4 inch to 2 inches in length and none of which enter the image area. Mat stain around the extreme perimeter, approximately 1/2 inch deep, otherwise fine. This work is in good condition.
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La Femme à l’oiseau, executed in 1950, is a study for La Femme à l’oiseau jaune, an oil painted in 1951 (see fig.1). The present composition also served as inspiration for a mosaic, Femme à l’oiseau sur fond rouge, which was completed in 1952 and adorned one of the walls of the artist's house near Lisores.

In the 1940s and 1950s, Léger returned to the use of figurative subjects for his paintings after a period of working with abstract imagery. he did not view this change as a rejection of the aims of abstraction, but rather as a way to continue pursuing the aims of pure painting with a new vocabulary. The artist wrote in 1950, "New subjects, envisaged with the contribution of the freedoms that previous experimentation has offered, must emerge and establish themselves." The goals were still the same, according to Léger, whether the image included objects from the everyday world or was completely abstract. He continued, "The plastic life, the picture, is made up of harmonious relationships among volumes, lines, and colors. These are the three forces that must govern works of art. If, in organizing these three essential elements harmoniously, one finds that objects, elements of reality, can enter into the composition, it may be better and may give the work more richness.  But they must be subordinated to the three essential elements mentioned above" (quoted in Beth Handler, Fernand Léger&🤡nbsp;(exhibiꦗtion catalogue), Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1998, p. 247).