Fernand Léger

1897-1899 training in architecture in Caen. 1903 studies at the école des Arts Décoratifs and the Académie Julien in Paris. 1908-1909 atelier in Montparnasse. Contact with Delaunay, Chagall, Lipschitz, Laurens, Archpenko, and others. Travels to Corsica. 1909 meets Henri Rousseau. 1910 contact with Picasso and Braque. 1911 takes part in the Cubist exhibition at the Salon des Indépendants. 1912 exhibition at Kahnweiler's, Paris. 1914-1916 military service. 1920 meeting with Le Corbusier and founding of the journal 'L'Esprit Nouveau'. 1921 ties to Mondrian and van Doesburg. 1924 shares an atelier with Ozenfant, Marie Laurencin, and Alexandra Exter. Travels to Italy. 1929 teaches at Paris's Académie moderne. 1930 meets Alexander Calder. 1931 first stay in the United States (New York, Chicago), subsequent visits in 1935 and 1938. 1932 teaches at the 'Grand-Chaumière' Academy in Paris. Travels to Sweden and Norway. 1933 trip to Greece with Le Corbusier. 1935 first exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art, New York. 1940 moves to the United States; lectures at Yale University. 1945 returns to France. 1948 travels to Poland. 1949 comprehensive retrospective at the Musée d'Art Moderne, Paris. Moves to Gif-sur-Yvette.