1919

Typographer (Final State)

French, 1881 - 1955

Fernand Léger admired mass media both for capturing the energy of modern life and sharpening human perception. Léger thought the role of modern art was to challenge and ultimately to compete with the unruly energy of those newer forms of communication. Typographer is an homage to the designers responsible for type in books, magazines, newspapers, and posters. The eponymous typographer sits before a worktable, a red sheet emblazoned with a stenciled letter R, circles, and dashes lies upon it. The top of the figure’s head (perhaps it is a hat) is represented by a glinting oval, and a half circle indicates an ear. At the composition’s edges, tables with objects evoke the typographer’s workshop environment.