Private Collection
Michelle Rosenfeld Gallery, New York
Private Collection, Chicago (and sold: Sotheby's, New York, May 6, 2010, lot 121)
Acquired at the above sale by the present owner

This work is in very good condition. Executed on cream wove paper. The sheet is hinged to the mount at two places along the top edge on its verso. Minor adhesive accretions are present at the extreme edges of the sheet from a previous mount. The sheet is lightly mat stained around the perimeter of the composition and overall very gently time stained. Scattered studio marks and stains are visible around the perimeter but the image itself is in excellent condition.
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.

Belonging to Léger's well-known series of pictures from the 1950s entitled La Grande parade, the final version of which resides in the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York (see fig. 1), the present work is a superb example of Léger's fascination with the expressive potential of color and his assertively geometric technique—two defining stylistic factors of his work. 

The circus had fascinated Léger since childhood, and as the artist matured it began to symbolize the joy of life regardless of age, origin and beliefs. As Peter de Francis notes: “The subject of acrobats, circuses, of the grouping together of those themes of leisure which Léger had always envisaged as the tangible symbols of man's freedom are to be found in the very beginning of his work and throughout his paintings” (Peter de Francia, Fernand Léger, New Haven & London, 1983, p. 248). As Léger himself explained, “If I have drawn circus people, acrobats, clowns, jugglers, it is because I have taken an interest in their work for thirty years” (quoted in Simon Willmoth, "Léger in America" in Fernand Léger: The Late Years (exhibition catalogue), London, Whitecha🤪pel Art Gallery, 1987-88, ✱p. 126)

Léger has rendered the pictorial elements in Étude pour "La Grande parade" with a sharp clarity that is characteristic oꩵf his mature work, using vivid planes of color for the background while outlining the figures' contours with with bold, black lines. The colors, in keeping with his works of this period, are fully saturated, voluminous and substant🔯ial.

As Robert Herbert notes, “Léger’s geometry is so fundamental to his conception of art and society that, like his theory of contrasts, it permeates all aspects of his painting. ‘A picture organized, orchestrated, like a musical score, has geometric necessities exactly the same as those of every objective human creation’” (quoted in Robert L. Herbert, From Millet to Léger, New Haven, 2002, p. 135). Here, Léger uses geometry as a repeated and meta-framing device, with each black line articulating disparate geometric forms that when together create a whole living being, just as the machinery that so fascinated Léger is pieced together to create a functioning device. This juxtaposition of natural forms and mechanical eleme💟nts exemplifies what Léger deemed to be the “law of contrast,” a concept of great import to Léger’s mature works.