Fernand Léger was one of the great innovators of twentieth-century art – a painter, sculptor, muralist, ceramicist, filmmaker and influential teacher. After an initially unsuccessful attempt to enter the École des Beaux-Arts, he went on to study both there and at the Académie Julian in Paris. Early inspiration came from Cézanne, but by 1909, living in Montparnasse among artists such as Chagall and Delaunay, Léger was absorbing the radical language of Cubism pioneered by Picasso and Braque.

In 1911, he emerged as one of the first artists to present Cubism publicly at the Salon des Indépendants. Critics coined the term 'Tubism' to describe his distinctive variation on the movement, characterised by bold cylindrical forms and a powerful sense of structure.

The experience of active service during the First World War profoundly shaped his vision. His subsequent 'mechanical period' celebrated the forms of modern industry, machinery and urban life. Over time, abstraction evolved into a vivid, accessible realism centred on workers, leisure, circus performers and everyday ritual. His circle included Charles-Édouard Jeanneret, better known as Le Corbusier, and Amédée Ozenfant; together, Léger and Ozenfant founded the progressive Académie Moderne.

In his later years, Léger expanded his practice to include murals, mosaics, stained glass, ceramics, stage and costume design, and book illustration. His collaboration with Atelier Mourlot was particularly significant. Working closely with its master printers, Léger helped establish lithography as a serious modern medium, translating his bold, colour-driven imagery into prints that retained the vitality of his paintings. In doing so, he not only broadened the reach of his own work but also helped position Mourlot at the centre of twentieth-century printmaking, alongside artists such as Picasso, Matisse and Chagall.