Les Masques

Painted in 1928, the present work is a monumental post-Cubist painting which exemplifies Metzinger’s proficiency at solid modeling and creating an illusion of space. His shift away from Cubism first became evident in a series of port views painted at Boulogne-sur-Mer in the summer of 1920 in which form is more legible and less fragmented. Léonce Rosenberg was a strong supporter of this development in Metzinger's art and exhibited the new work at his Galerie de l'Effort Moderne throughout the 1920s.
By 1922, the move away from Cubism towards Purism had grown even more pronounced. Although Metzinger was not a formal member of the circle around Le Corbusier and Amédée Ozenfant, he did contribute to Ozenfant's review L'Elan. He was also influenced by the rappel à l'ordre, revisiting themes and references, especially harlequins, the circus and scenes from the Italian or French comedy, borrowed from Jean-Antoine Watteau through Camille Corot to André Derain. These canvases display a classicizing tendency unhampered by the Cubist discipline. This new simplification of form eventually led to the more allegorical Art Deco works of the late 1920s and early 1930s which show stylistic similarities to Fernand Léger's paintings from the period.