All About Léger: When Art Embraces Life
Last weeks to enjoy the exhibition
Art is Life
At the Museum, the exhibition All About Léger! brings a joyful, colorful breeze to your view of art. With Fernand Léger leading the way, you’ll discover a body of work deeply rooted in its time, focused on people, daily gestures, and simple pleasures. Because for Léger—and many others after him—art is above all about life. A life in motion, filled with leisure, dance, music, and freedom.
In the 20th century, society began to change: the arrival of paid holidays in 1936, the boom of leisure activities, the celebration of entertainment, outdoor sports… Léger watched this transforming world and made it his subject. Gone was idealization—real life took center stage. Cyclists, swimmers, workers on vacation finally enjoying the great outdoors. With bold colors, large formats, and dynamic compositions, Léger turned everyday life into something extraordinary. A popular art that speaks to everyone.
The Cyclists: The Joy of Movement
In The Four Cyclists, painted between 1943 and 1948, Fernand Léger captures the pure energy of a bike ride. You can feel the speed, the joy, the nature around… and the sense of freedom and togetherness.
This painting perfectly illustrates a technique dear to the artist: color outside the lines. Here, the bold color fields seem to float independently of the outlines that shape the figures—a technique inspired by the glowing neon lights of American cities. The result is a lively painting, almost in motion, like a visual celebration.
The Nanas: Free Women in Color
Two decades later, the artists of Nouveau Réalisme picked up the baton. They too aimed to blur the boundaries between art and life, celebrating a world of leisure and bodily freedom. Among them was Niki de Saint Phalle, who filled her world with Nanas—women with generous curves and radiant colors.
In a society where women were still largely constrained in their aspirations, the Nanas, full of optimism and energy, created a liberating imagination.
“I love roundness, curves, undulation. The world is round, the world is a breast. I don’t like right angles—they scare me. [...] I love imperfection. [...] Imperfection gives life—I love life.”
Miles Davis in Mosaic
But Niki de Saint Phalle was also deeply committed. Marked by racial segregation in the United States, she expressed her support for civil rights movements—particularly through her Black Heroes series, which includes this monumental portrait of the legendary trumpeter Miles Davis.
Dressed in a dazzling outfit made of brightly colored and gold mosaic, he stands tall and majestic—catching every eye on the Promenade des Anglais, the iconic spot in Nice where the sculpture is usually on view.
Final weeks
With All About Léger!, art bursts with joy, movement, and freedom. It’s a wonderful opportunity to rediscover Fernand Léger and those who, after him, sought to bring art closer to life. The exhibition ends on July 20, so you only have a few weeks left to enjoy it.
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À découvrir
General guided tour
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