Composition au compas

1930

Meeting Calder

In 1930 Léger meets Calder. In the same year his work is shown at the Leicester Galleries in London and at Paul Rosenberg's gallery in Paris, and he paints “The Mona Lisa with Keys” (now in the Léger Museum in Biot).

September – December 1931

First trip to the United States: New York and Chicago

Léger spends the summer of 1931 in Austria with his friends the Murphys and from September to December makes his first trip to the United States, to New York and Chicago. His work is shown at the galleries of John Becker and Durand-Ruel.

1933

An exhibition in Zurich and a trip to Greece with Le Corbusier

In 1933 a large exhibition of Léger's work is held at the Kunsthaus in Zurich, which he attends in person. In the same year he travels with Le Corbusier to Greece for the international congress of modern architecture, and on the ship home he gives a lecture, “Architecture and Life”.

1934

Sets for the Wells film in London

In August 1934 in London Léger prepares sets for the film after H. G. Wells, “The Shape of Things to Come”; he spends the summer with the Marphys at Antibes, in September an exhibition of his work opens at the Modern Gallery in Stockholm, and at the Sorbonne he gives a lecture, “From the Acropolis to the Eiffel Tower”.