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

The Front cover from La Fin du monde filmée par l'ange de N.-D. (The End of the World Filmed by the Angel of Notre Dame), created by Fernand Léger in 1919, introduces Blaise Cendrars’s compelling, apocalyptic narrative. This significant work is classified as an illustrated book cover, executed through a line block process. The cover design sets the tone for the complete volume, which is comprised of two line blocks (front and back covers) and twenty-two vibrant pochoirs detailing Cendrars's futuristic and often chaotic vision.

This collaboration is recognized as a cornerstone of French avant-garde publishing and visual art from the immediate post-WWI era. Léger’s graphic contribution, realized in 1919, demonstrates his accelerating move away from analytic Cubism toward a cleaner, more geometric machine aesthetic, a style that would later be associated with Purism. The cover emphasizes structural clarity and mechanical dynamism, reflecting the artist’s fascination with industry and technology prevalent among modernists of the time. The stark lines and geometric reduction employed in the line block technique lend themselves perfectly to mechanical reproduction and the book’s futuristic subject matter, which describes the end of the world through a camera lens.

As a vital piece of early 20th-century artistic history, the illustrated book highlights the dynamic interplay between contemporary writing and visual composition. The complex production, involving specialized hand-coloring techniques like pochoir alongside commercial print processes, underscores the importance of high-quality printmaking during the period. The original work is a crucial part of the collection at the Museum of Modern Art, New York. Reflecting its historical age and artistic importance, reproductions and high-quality prints often enter the public domain, allowing broad access to Léger's groundbreaking designs.