L’Étoile de mer

A red, undulating form. Against planes of deep blue and yellow, the object floats. This is a depiction of a starfish, cast ashore on the beach.

Fernand Léger is often perceived as a painter of cold steel and machinery, an inorganic artist who even depicted humans like robots. Yet, in 1936, what he chose to portray was a remarkably soft "life."

In fact, during this period, he moved away from the order of machines and turned his attention to fragments of nature: seashells, tree trunks, and this starfish. It was also a quiet challenge for him to achieve "aesthetic freedom."