Composition aux Deux Oiseaux (Composition with Two Birds)

1954
original color lithograph printed on arches wove paper
25.50 x 19.69 in.

signed hand-signed by the artist in blue pen, lower left, signed with the artist’s initials; dated dated on the stone "F.L. 53", lower right; numbered "25/75" in pencil, lower left

Style/Movement: Modern

Léger introduced dove-like birds into his composition in the late 1930s. As doves became a symbol for post-war peace movements, the bird became a recurring symbol in Léger’s work.
Selected Literature

Catalogue Reference: Saphire 134

Published by Galerie Louise Leiris, Paris. Printed by Atelier Mourlot, Paris. (Note: The discrepency between the date on the stone and the date noted in the catalogue Raisonné is explained by Saphire as follows: "the archives of the Galerie Louise Leiris indicate that eight lithographs dated 1951, 1952 or 1953 were actually done in 1954 and 1955." [p.287])