ART CHRONICLE
97
print sort of picturesqueness in the "Leisure" of 1949, but the compo–
sition wobbles and flutters underneath, and the result is no more than
an uncertainly nice picture. And the large, bright "Builders" of 1950
is not even nice.
Despite some appearances to the contrary, Leger remains a very
accomplished painter; moreover, he is still able to execute things whose
virtues are more than those of plausibility. I have in mind certain small
still lifes done within the past twenty years, but of which there is no
example in the present show. On the other hand, there are the show–
pieces, which are in the show. The large "Three Musicians" of 1944
is solid and compact, but lacks tension and intensity, as does also the
large "Adam and Eve" of 1939, whose undulating chiaroscuro, for all
its presence, over-unifies the picture and renders it too bland. Yet, as
is obvious, only a master-a master who has, or had, greatness in
him--<:ould have turned out either of these two paintings. I should
have liked to see the final, largest version of the "Bicyclist" series of
1944-45 in the exhibition; it does much the same thing as "Leisure"
but, as I remember it, much better. Certainly, that series did not de–
serve to be represented by "The Great Julie," also in the Museum of
Modern Art's permanent collection, with its forced, arty color, a middle–
sized picture that is still far too large for its content. Perhaps the evi–
dence in general could have been better chosen to make a case for the
post-1925 Leger, but even so, I do not think it could have altered the
conclusion much.
The decline that overtook Leger after 1925, as it did so many other
estimable members of the School of Paris, was made all the more
marked in his, as in Picasso's, case by the refusal to sit with past
triumphs and repeat himself. L·eger having created taste and still seeking
to create it, but in vain, taste now revenges itself on him all the more,
as it also does on Picasso-and as it seems to have done on other great
artists at one time or another in their careers. This, however, is not
all there is to it.
And far be it from anyone to write
finis
to a great artist's career
before he dies. Matisse surprised us by painting a picture in 1948 that
can stand up to anything he did in the past-the "Red Interior." And
Uger is not yet as old as Matisse was then.
Clement Greenberg
