Divers: Blue and Black by Leger in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, March 2008

Fernand Léger. (French, 1881–1955)

Divers, Blue and Black
1942-43
Oil on canvas

Jacques and Natasha Gelman Collection, 1998 (1999.363.37)

Entangled figures plunge into broad swatches of color like swimmers in a crowded pool. The inspiration for Divers dates to 1940, while Leger was in Marseille awaiting passage to the United States, where he would stay until the end of World War II. Leger's interest in the theme of the swimming pool lasted beyond his sojourn in America and resulted in a series of about twenty-five works.

Text from the Metropolitan Museum of Art label.