Plate (folio 26 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 26 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) by Fernand Léger, executed in 1919, is a crucial work demonstrating the artist's engagement with graphic arts and the aesthetic principles of mechanical dynamism. This piece is part of a seminal illustrated book containing twenty-two pochoirs, six of which also incorporated line blocks to define the structure. The pochoir technique-a refined form of stencil printing-allowed Léger to achieve flat, vibrant areas of color, emphasizing the precision and starkness characteristic of his evolving style.

This work was produced during a formative period in the French avant-garde, shortly after the conclusion of World War I. The year 1919 marks Léger's firm transition from academic Cubism toward the Purist movement and a visual vocabulary rooted in the machine age. The illustrations within the book often depict abstracted urban scenes and figures rendered in tubular, segmented components, visually mirroring the era's accelerating industrialization and the influence of cinema.

Léger utilized the graphic medium to explore geometric fragmentation and compositional rhythm, translating the mechanical precision found in his large-scale paintings into a series of impactful prints. The deliberate use of stark contrasts and bold outlines reinforces the sense of structure and permanence in the face of widespread post-war societal change.

The original publication, issued by Éditions de La Sirène, is recognized today as a landmark in the history of the livre d’artiste. This valuable example of Léger’s contributions to modern graphic prints is preserved in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), affirming its historical importance to both the classification of the illustrated book and the visual culture of early 20th-century French modernism.