Fernand Léger first met Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque in 1910 and eventually embraced his own interpretation of Cubism. The influence of Picasso and Braque’s work, as well as that of Paul Cézanne, can be seen in The Village in the Forest. Here, the sharp, angular planes of the houses and rounded contours of the treetops and their trunks are simplified rather than broken down and analyzed. These elements are further defined by black outlines and bright colors. Léger painted this work just prior to the outbreak of World War I in 1914. Following the artist’s return from his service in the army, his pictorial interests and themes changed significantly.

Label from Picasso: The Artist and His Models, November 5, 2016–February 19, 2017