Still Life with a Beer Mug
- Artist: Fernand Léger
- Date: 1921–2
- Medium: Oil paint on canvas
- Dimensions: support: 923 x 604 mm
- Museum: Tate Modern
- Collection record: Tate Modern website
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About this artwork
This is the “Still Life with a Beer Mug” by Fernand Léger, created in 1921–22. Léger was moving away from pure abstraction toward a stylised, almost cartoonish depiction of everyday objects. In this work he balances bold primary colours—red, yellow, orange and blue—against a stark black‑and‑white geometric backdrop. The central figure is a Bavarian‑style beer mug, bright and chunky, sitting on a square wooden table surrounded by a butter pot, a knife, a fruit plate and a simple tablecloth.
The kitchen wall and floor are rendered as a flat, diamond‑patterned grid, giving the scene a cubist sense of space while keeping the objects recognisable. Léger layered oil paint smoothly, avoiding visible brushstrokes, and used a preliminary graphite sketch to map out the composition. He later reworked the piece, refining the pattern balance and adding the final touches.
The result is a striking blend of order, clarity and a playful celebration of ordinary life, all captured in a vibrant, geometric tableau.
See it in person
Still Life with a Beer Mug is in the collection of Tate Modern on Bankside, London — free to enter. Point your phone at any artwork there and audioguide.london plays a free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
