The little-known life of Nadia Khodossievitch-Léger can be discovered in a unique exhibition to be seen in Paris, entitled “Nadia Léger. A Woman of the Avant-Garde”. Not to be missed at the Musée Maillol from November 8, 2024 to March 23, 2025, this retrospective, mixing art and history, looks back at the fascinating career of this artist, who was at once a painter, magazine editor, resistance fighter and communist activist.
After having dedicated exhibitions to Elliott Erwitt and Andres Serrano, the Maillol museum in Paris is interested in the fascinating and rich journey of Nadia Khodossievich-Leger (1904-1982). Considered one of the figures of 20th century art, Nadia Khodossievich-Leger was a painter, magazine editor, collaborator of her husband Fernand Léger, resistance fighter and communist activist. A rich life that the Maillol museum invites us to discover from November 8, 2024 to March 23, 2025 on the occasion of the exhibition “ Nadia Léger. An avant-garde woman ».
Through more than 150 works exhibited, spread over the ground floor, first and second floors, the Maillol museum intends to take us back in time and immerse us in the journey, as incredible as it is little-known, of Nadia Khodossievich-Legerwife of the famous painter Fernand Léger.
It was in 1904, in a small village in Belarus, that Nadia Khodossievitch was born. After the School of Fine Arts in Warsaw in 1921, she arrived in Paris in 1925 and joined the Académie moderne, then directed by Fernand Léger and Amédée Ozenfant. Only one year later, she participated in the exhibition of the Atelier Fernand Léger at the Académie moderne. From then on, the artist’s exhibitions multiplied, and her pictorial work evolved considerably through contact with the avant-gardes of her time. Initially inspired by cubism and purism, the artist later moved closer to suprematism and then realism.
Behind the artist, there is also a deeply committed woman. It was in 1933 that she joined the Communist Party and shortly after produced her first committed works, like her famous “Self-portrait with red flag” (1936). Pendant l’Occupation, Nadia Khodossievitch joined the Resistance. At the Liberation, she decided to put her talent at the service of the PCF.
From November 8, 2024 to March 23, 2025, immerse yourself in the artistic life of Nadia Khodossievich-Legerthrough this great retrospective not to be missed at Maillol museum. The opportunity to discover new dialogues with the works of Fernand Léger, Pablo Picasso, and several students of the Atelier Léger, such as Nicolas de Staël, Hans Hartung and Marcelle Cahn.
