Galerie Louise Leiris (Galerie Simon), Paris
Sidney Janis Gallery, New York (acquired by 1957)
Frank Stanton (acquired from the above circa 1960 and sold by the estate: Christie's, New York, May 4, 2011, lot 47)
Acquired at the above sale by the present owner

Copenhagen, Kunstforeningen, Fernand Léger Udstilling, 1951, no. 27
Turin, Peintres d'aujourd'hui, France-Italie, 1951, illustrated in the catalogue
New York, Sidney Janis Gallery, Léger, Major Themes, 1957, no. 25, illustrated in the catalogue

Georges Bauquier, Fernand Léger, Catalogue raisonné de l'oeuvre peint 1949-1951, vol. VIII, Paris, 2003, no. 1379, illustrated p. 105

This work is in excellent condition. The canvas is unlined. The colors are extremely rich and vibrant. Under UV light certain original pigments fluoresce however no inpainting is apparent.
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.

Despite approaching his seventieth year at the time of executing the present work, Léger showed no signs of slowing his artistic production. He began a number of new projects, including ceramics, sculptures, and stained-glass. It was in 1951, during these ambitious later years of the artist’s life, that Léger started a series of larger compositions often dedicated to abstract still lifes. Stemming from the long tradition of still lifes, Le Vase de fleurs dans l’atelier provides the viewer with an intimate peak into the artist’s working environment, the atelier. Next to a vase of flowers, Léger presents his easel, a draped artist’s smock, a cylinder used to store rolled canvases, several blank canvases, and the profile of a young woman.

One of several formal approaches Léger used in his paintings of the postwar years, in the present work the artist outlines his forms in black and then adds patches of vibrant hues devoid of all local color. In this manner, Le Vase de fleurs dans l’atelier possesses a slick graphic visual appeal that is almost architectural in nature. Writing about this technique, Léger described the ways in which pure color can create movement within a flat surface: “Color can enter into play with a surprising and active force without any need to incorporate instructive or sentimental elements. A wall can be destroyed by the application of pure colors... A wall can made to advance or recede, to become visually mobile. All this with color" ("Color in the World" in Edward F. Fry, ed., Fernand Léger: Functions of Painting, New York, 1973, p. 123).