Plate (folio 20 verso) from La Fin du monde filmée par l'ange de N.-D. (The End of the World Filmed by the Angel of Notre Dame)

Plate (folio 20 verso) 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 seminal work created by Fernand Léger in 1919. This image constitutes one of twenty-two pochoirs included in the landmark illustrated book, showcasing Léger’s shift toward a highly stylized, mechanized aesthetic in the immediate aftermath of the First World War. The artwork utilizes the complex medium of pochoir, a precise, stencil-based printmaking technique, often augmented with line blocks, allowing for the application of flat, saturated planes of color.

The work embodies the French movement toward Purism and post-Cubist clarity prevalent in the period. Léger deliberately rejects the fragmentation of early Cubism, favoring instead the clean geometry and polished finish associated with industry and mass production. The compositions in the illustrated book, though technically abstract, frequently evoke machine parts, architectural components, or generalized figures simplified into elemental forms: cylinders, squares, and bold arcs. The visual language is starkly organized, employing a limited palette of primary colors set against areas of black and white, amplifying the sense of precision and monumentality, even on a small scale.

Classified as an Illustrated Book, this specific volume is critical to understanding the history of 20th-century prints and modern graphic arts. The decision to use the pochoir technique enabled the production of high-quality, intensely colored prints while maintaining the integrity of Léger’s sharp, modern designs. The plates, including this particular folio, encapsulate the optimism and renewed focus on order that characterized cultural production in 1919. This important example of early modern French printmaking is held in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art.