Construction Workers, Final State

Construction Worker, Final State is a piece of artwork created by the French artist, Fernand Leger. It is a large art piece, measuring 9 feet by 7 feet and resides at the South of France in Biot near the region of Antibes. This is the location of the house that the artist bought in 1950 to be used as a mosaic studio.

The image features construction workers putting together metal girders for a large building that is under construction. You can tell that it is high up in the sky as the clear blue sky is evident behind them. The metal girders come in various solid colours that include red, white, black and yellow. Fernand uses these girders to give form and shape to this composition. To keep in line with the title, the painter has placed construction workers at the centre of the image. On the lower part of the foreground, there is a group of four workers who are carrying a huge girder to be placed in one of the positions. These four men look muscular and work in one accord. It is easy to see that the four men are working as a team and have the unity of purpose.

Where they stand are two logs, one of which has twigs still attached to the trunk. Above them are two other workers, who are probably fastening the girders. They seem to defy gravity with one almost hanging by just one hand. There is also a rope hanging by the right side of the construction. Ladders hang by either side to be used by the workers as they move up and down the structure. Funny enough, none of the workers seems to have any hand tools in the image. There are also clouds behind the girders that serve to show the great height at which the employees are working. They also provide a nice, natural contrast to the blue skies.

Construction Workers, Final State, was made in 1950s and follows Nicholas Poussin’s classical French Baroque art. There are a few changes to give it a touch of modernity. The image was a part of a collection of 12 paintings. They were a part of the wall hangings art at the Renault factory canteen located at Boulogne-Billancourt. It is said that Leger wanted to ensure that everyone saw his work. Therefore, he visited the canteen each day to see the workers' reaction to his image. Pundits claim that this image was a praise of the post-war reconstruction of France after the great devastation it endured in the hands of the Axis powers.