Fernand Léger the costume designer
Born in 1881 and died in 1955, Fernand Léger is best known for his cubist paintings and sculptures. But he also imagined a series of costumes and sets for the Ballets Suédois between 1920 and 1925. Created in Paris by Rolf de Maré, a dance enthusiast indutrialist, the Ballets Suédois are the Ballets Russes’ competitors, nowadays more well-known. However, they were major players in the post-war avant-garde art scene and met success through the leadership of choreographer Jean Börlin and their capacity to merge different fields of art: dance, poetry, music, set design, costume design, etc. Les Ballets Suédois sought to expand the definition of ballet, by using some of the greatest artists of their time. To name a few : composers Claude Debussy, Germaine Tailleferre, Erik Satie, Arthur Honegger, Cole Porter, poets Blaise Cendrars, Paul Claudel and Jean Cocteau, the filmmaker René Clair, the painters Giorgio De Chirico, Stone Bonnard, Foujita, Francis Picabia and of course, Fernand Léger.
