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DRAFT.

When Fernand Léger was in Marseille in the fateful summer of 1940, awaiting the fulfilling of the formalities necessary to leave France to reach this country, he was strongly impressed by the diving and swimming bathers there. Without any definite idea in mind, he immediately started sketches, and when he found his balance in the new surroundings here, he at once set to work carrying out two monumental compositions which he called "The Divers", based on his Marseille experience. One of these, "The Divers (in Black)" is included in this show. However many studies in pencil, watercolor and also in oil, were necessary before achieving the final compositions; these were carried out in 1941 and at the beginning of 1942, and each of these "studies", complete in themselves, bears the strong and personal imprint of the artist. Entirely different from his previous creations and also totally apart from the paintings he has undertaken since, "Les Plongeurs" reveal in addition to the dynamism of the artist, a quality of movement and mass. The rush of these bodies through the water has further offered to Mr. Léger an opportunity for graceful patterns in strikingly warm and brilliant colors. Contrary to a great many of his other compositions, the group we are exhibiting here is treated three dimensionally, which emphasizes the effect of weight and conveys a quality of irresistability to these bodies in motion. The whole evolution of "Les Plongeurs" is thus presented to the public for the first time and allows us to follow the germination of the artist's idea[[x/strikethrough s]] from its inception to its final form.

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