E xecuted in 1921, one of the most innovative and productive periods in Léger’s career, Le Déjeuner belongs to an important group of works depicting one or several female figures in an interior setting. Léger likely began this series with a composition showing a table and a single reclining female holding various objects in front of her. As he developed this idea he introduced additional standing figures and eventually added more detail to the objects and the interior, culminating in the celebrated Le Grand déjeuner of 1921, which has been a centerpiece of The Museum of Modern Art’s collects ion since the 1940s. Léger transformed a seemingly traditional genre into a complex and radically modern composition of fragmented shapes that evokes his earlier mechanical style.

In the present watercolor, the figures and objects are broken into curved, geometric forms set against a grid of horizontal and vertical lines of the background. Some are recognizable objects such as the table with a cup and a pitcher, while others are highly abstracted geometric forms. The women’s features are fragmented almost to the point of abstraction, devoid of any expression of personality, as the artist aimed to portray figures as part of the composition, rather than depict them as individuals. This innovative, modernist approach, beautifully exemplified by the present work, places Léger’s output of this period at the forefront of the European avant-garde.