The Netherlands has the scoop on a “new” work by the French master Léger

It was imagined under a hard coat with a lot of effort and patience and according to experts it is so interesting because it belongs to a series that took the Frenchman to an artistic turning point: Smoke on the roofs. That makes it even more important than what’s on the front.

The Triton Foundation, a Dutch foundation which manages a collection brought together by the baron of the port of Rotterdam Willem Cordia and his wife Marijke, acquired in 1999 the painting Le quatorze Juillet (1912-1913) by Fernand Léger, with the bonus of this painting then still invisible work on the back.

Restoration

“Although it was known that there was a second painting on the back of this painting, this work was thought to have been damaged beyond salvage. Restorers were eventually able to remove the hard, glue-like layer on the painting. And thanks to in-depth research, the restorer was able to allow Gwendolyn Boevé-Jones to attribute this painting to the important series Smoke on the roofs”, specified a spokesperson for the foundation.

In this series, Léger paints the view of the roofs from his studio in Paris. This inspired him to experiment with form and color, moving from relatively realistic to abstract. This evolution leads him to cubism, of which he becomes one of the important representatives.