Half title 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 Half title 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 a key component of the illustrated book created by Fernand Léger in 1919. Classified officially as an Illustrated Book, this French work utilizes the intricate print technique of pochoir. The piece is derived from a larger publication that featured twenty-two individual pochoirs, six of which incorporated a line block overlay, alongside two additional line blocks used for the cover design.

This production aligns with Léger's stylistic evolution following World War I, marking a transition toward a mechanized and streamlined aesthetic rooted in Cubist principles, often associated with the Purist movement. Although created in 1919, the visual vocabulary anticipates the stark, mechanical subjects and robust geometry that would define Léger’s graphic output throughout the following decade. The conceptual framework implied by the book's title, concerning the apocalyptic filming of the world's end, reflects the contemporary anxieties and intense technological fascination characteristic of the immediate post-war period. As a seminal example of Modernist prints, this specific half title introduces the viewer to the fragmented, geometric universe established within the volume.

Pochoir, a high-quality, stencil-based coloring method favored for its ability to produce rich, flat color saturation, was popular for artists’ books of this era. This technique allowed for the precise application of the bold color fields that define Léger's graphic designs. The technical combination of the pochoir coloring and the line block structural definition enhanced the formal qualities of the composition. The entire volume serves as a significant record of early 20th-century French graphic arts and interdisciplinary literary collaborations. Today, high-resolution images and prints of Léger’s works from this period are often made available through public domain initiatives. This exemplary work remains preserved in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA).