Leger, Fernand

Fernand Leger was born in 1881 in north-western France, the only child of a cattle breeder and his wife. His early training was in architecture and draftsmanship; he began painting seriously upon moving to Paris in 1903. As a young artist, he exhibited regularly at the Salon d'Automne and was part of a circle that included Brancusi, Apollinaire, and the Puteaux group. His public debut as an avant-garde artist occurred in 1911, when one of his paintings was hung in the Cubist room at the Salon des IndEpendants. Leger died in 1955.