Contraste de formes - Kunstsammlung NRW / Online-Sammlung

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Information

Artist

Fernand Léger

1881
Argentan (Normandie), Frankreich

1955
Gif-sur-Yvette (Seine-et-Oise), Frankreich

Work data

Material/Technique

Oil on canvas

Dimensions

Image: 82.5 × 65.5 × 2.3 cm
Frame: 101.3 × 85.5 × 8.3 cm

Signature

Bez. u.r.: "F.L 14"

Accession Number

0127

Catalogue Raisonné

Bauquier 68

Acquisition year

1962

Provenance

Little is known about the whereabouts of Fernand Léger’s painting “Contraste de formes” after its creation in 1914. Furthermore, there is no evidence of any exhibitions at which the work was shown, nor are there any known mentions in art or similar publications. Only a label on the back of the work suggests that it was owned by Sami Tarica, owner of Galerie Tarica in Paris. In 1960, Galerie Beyeler in Basel bought the painting from Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler, a partner in Galerie Louise Leiris. Just two years later, the Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen purchased the painting “Contraste de formes” from Galerie Beyeler for its holdings.

Between 2009 and 2012, several freelance provenance researchers examined the origins (provenance) of all works in the collection of the Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen as part of a comprehensive research project funded by the German Lost Art Foundation. The focus was on all works created before 1945. For the painting “Contraste de formes,” the ownership history during the National Socialist period (1933–1945) could not be fully clarified. For this reason, the Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen commissioned a more in-depth investigation into the history of this work in 2025.

If you have any questions or information regarding this work, please contact us:
Dr. Vivien Trommer
Head of Collection
trommer@kunstsammlung.de

Credit line

Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Düsseldorf

Exhibitions

Fernand Léger 1911-1924. Der Rhythmus des modernen Lebens/ Fernand Léger 1911-1924. Le rythme de la vie moderne, 28.5.-26.11.1994, Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg/Kunstmuseum Basel
Unser 20. Jahrhundert - Meisterwerke von Picasso bis Beuys, 14.7.-28.10.2000, Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Düsseldorf
Die andere Sammlung. Hommage an Ernst und Hildy Beyeler, 18.8.2007-5.1.2008, Fondation Beyeler, Riehen
Silent Revolution - Eine neue Sammlungspräsentation, 26.2.-12.6.2010, Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, K21 Ständehaus, Düsseldorf
Tête-à-Tête. Léger - Laurens, 22.6.-3.11.2012, Museum Frieder Burda, Baden-Baden
Mondriaan en het kubisme, Parijs 1912-1914 / Mondrian and Cubism, 24.1.-10.5.2014, Gemeentemuseum Den Haag
museum global. Mikrogeschichten einer ex-zentrischen Moderne/museum global. Microhistories of an Ex-centric Modernism, 9.11.2018-9.3.2019, K20 Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Grabbeplatz
Atelier Fernand Léger (AT), 22.10.2027-11.3.2028, K20