Chapter title (folio 17) from La Fin du monde filmée par l'ange de N.-D. (The End of the World Filmed by the Angel of Notre Dame)

Chapter title (folio 17) from La Fin du monde filmée par l'ange de N.-D. (The End of the World Filmed by the Angel of Notre Dame) is an exemplary Illustrated Book created by the French modernist Fernand Léger in 1919. This work is a pochoir print, one of twenty-two such images included in the complete volume, which also incorporated line blocks to achieve its precise, graphic aesthetic. The book, whose title translates to The End of the World Filmed by the Angel of Notre Dame, reflects the intense period of artistic experimentation and the embrace of mechanical aesthetics prevalent in Parisian art circles immediately following World War I.

The pochoir technique, a sophisticated method of stencil printing used widely in French fine art printing during the early 20th century, allowed Léger to achieve the flat, high-saturation color planes characteristic of his transition away from high Cubism toward his distinctive mechanical style. The composition for Chapter title (folio 17) typically features dynamic arrangements of circles, rods, and bold primary colors, suggesting motion or the fragmented, simultaneous perspectives of cinematic frames. These machine-like forms and the emphasis on graphic precision align with the narrative’s futuristic subject matter and Léger’s broader artistic project of integrating industrial efficiency into the realm of fine art.

Produced in 1919, this book sits at a crucial moment in the development of modern art, where artists sought to define the esprit nouveau in response to the upheavals of the recent conflict. Léger used the formal constraints of the Illustrated Book genre to push the boundaries of graphic design and printing technology. This particular folio, along with the complete limited-edition book, is held in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), recognizing its importance both as a key example of the illustrated book genre and as a significant graphic work by the artist.