Divers on a Yellow Background, 1941 by Fernand Leger
Canvas Print - 20875-LEG

Location: Art Institute of Chicago, Illinois, USA
Original Size: 186.7 × 217.8 cm

Own a museum-grade giclée Canvas Print of Divers on a Yellow Background by Fernand Leger (1941). It is printed with archival pigments on 400 g/m² canvas and hand-varnished with a UV-protective layer. Set your exact proportional size—anything up to 35.8 × 41.3 in, with optional framing. Free worldwide shipping for rolled artworks. Unframed prints ship within 48 h, framed prints in 7-8 days. Guaranteed 100-year color durability.

Divers on a Yellow Background, 1941 | Fernand Leger | Giclée Canvas Print

Giclée Canvas Print | $81.33 USD

Your Selection

SKU:20875-LEG
Print Size
Unframed Prints are Produced in 2-4 Business Days.

Customize Your Print

By using the red up or down arrows, you have the option to proportionally increase or decrease the printed area in inches as per your preference.

*Largest available: 35.8 × 41.3 in
*Framing: long side up to 28"

If you want a painting which is not in our catalogue

Your Questions Answered: Fine Art Prints, Framing, Care & Delivery

Giclée Print Quality 400 g/m² Canvas (Satin Gloss) + 1.2 in Borders for Stretching 100+ Year Colour Guarantee Free WorldWide Shipping!

Most people search for “canvas print” or “wall art” - but what they’re really looking for is a giclée print: a museum-grade reproduction of the original masterpiece, printed with archival pigment inks on fine art canvas.

Giclée (pronounced 'zhee-clay') is a French term meaning 'to spray,' referring to how ink is precisely sprayed onto canvas or paper, creating incredibly detailed fine art prints. It’s the gold standard in museum-quality printing, loved by artists, galleries, and museums worldwide.

Your artwork will be printed on premium canvas using vibrant archival inks, faithfully capturing every brushstroke and subtle nuance of Fernand Leger's original. To ensure lasting beauty, each print is finished with a protective UV varnish. Far superior to ordinary posters, your canvas print will look and feel like a real painting, retaining its vivid colors and pristine details for more than 100 years.

About Giclée Fine Art Printing

Here's a simple trick: use painter’s tape to mark the print size directly on your wall, and step back to see how it feels. Generally, larger sizes around 36 in wide work beautifully in living rooms or open spaces. Medium sizes around 24 in fit nicely in bedrooms, hallways, or offices. Hanging it above a sofa? Choose a print that's roughly two-thirds the width of your couch. Still unsure? Start with our popular 18.7 × 21.7 in size—it fits comfortably in most spaces!

For a more artistic approach: choosing a size closer to the original artwork ensures you experience the artist’s intended visual impact and authenticity. Of course, since most of us don't live in spacious baroque palaces, your available space and personal taste should ultimately guide your decision.

In many cases, yes! If you need a specific size to fit a particular space or frame, feel free to reach out—we're happy to see what’s possible. Because each print is made to order, we can often accommodate custom dimensions as long as they respect the proportions of the original painting.Just send us an email at info@topartprint.com with the title of the artwork and the size you're looking for. We’ll get back to you quickly with options and pricing.

Good to know: when you choose the size of your artwork, the Print Size shown in the Your Selection box refers to the actual image area—that’s the part you’ll see once the canvas is stretched or framed.

The Total Size includes an additional 1.2 in white border on each side, added specifically for stretching.
So yes—this white border is added on top of your selected print size. You get the full artwork at the dimensions you picked, plus extra canvas to make stretching smooth and professional.

For example, if you select a 18.7 × 21.7 in print, the full canvas you receive will measure 21.1 × 24.0 in—giving your framer plenty of room to create a clean, gallery-quality stretch.

Both options are wonderful choices! Going unframed gives you maximum flexibility—you can take your print to a local framing shop for personalized options and expert advice tailored to your décor. This is especially great if you have specific design ideas or want to match existing frames in your home.

However, keep in mind that a print truly comes to life when properly framed. Art professionals often say: 'The frame contributes 30% of the artwork’s overall impact.' A well-chosen frame elevates and completes your print.

If you choose our framing option, your print will arrive professionally framed and ready to hang right out of the box. We focus exclusively on traditional framing methods, ensuring every artwork receives the respectful presentation it deserves—this is why we don't offer gallery wrap options.

Important shipping note: Due to courier restrictions, we can ship framed prints up to 28 in on the longest side. Larger prints will arrive safely rolled in a tube, ready for you to frame locally.

For more detailed information, please see our complete guide to fine art framing methods.

We've carefully selected this premium canvas because it brings out the absolute best in Fernand Leger's work. Made from natural cotton with a 400 g/m² weight, it has just the right texture to capture every brushstroke and detail of the original painting.

What makes our canvas special? The satin-gloss finish. Think of how paintings look in museums with that beautiful varnish—that's exactly the effect we're going for. This glossy surface makes colors pop with incredible vibrancy while giving deep, rich blacks that matte canvases simply can't achieve. The result? Your print has that authentic 'real painting' look with extraordinary depth and life.

Plus, our canvas is acid-free and pH-neutral, so it'll stay beautiful for generations. We believe Divers on a Yellow Background deserves nothing less than this museum-quality treatment.

Every print is made just for you—no mass production here! Once you place your order, we begin creating your Divers on a Yellow Background print with care and precision.

Unframed prints are crafted in 2–4 business days.
Framed prints take 7–8 business days to build and finish.

Shipping options:
Standard Delivery (Free): Up to two unframed prints per order, provided that the short side does not exceed 59 cm (approx. 23 inches), with delivery in 10–14 working days.
Express Shipping: Delivered in 2–4 working days; costs vary by weight, volume, and destination. After adding the artwork to your cart, use the Shipping estimates tool there for exact pricing.

Note for framed prints: Because they’re bulkier and higher-value, framed artworks ship only via express tracked service and do not qualify for free standard delivery.

Packaging:
Unframed prints: Safely rolled in postal tubes.
Framed prints: Packed in reinforced boxes with corner protectors and bubble wrap.

You’ll receive a tracking number as soon as your order leaves our studio—so you can follow every step of its journey!

It’s super easy! Your giclée print is designed to last over 100 years when properly displayed. We’ve already applied a UV-protective varnish, so there’s no need for any extra treatments on your part.

Just follow these simple tips:
  • Hang your print away from direct sunlight and high humidity
  • Dust gently with a soft, dry cloth if needed
  • Avoid touching the printed surface directly
  • Keep the room temperature relatively stable
That’s it! With these basic precautions, your Fernand Leger print will retain its vibrant colors and pristine condition for generations to come.

We want you to truly love your art. Since each piece is custom-made just for you, we kindly recommend double-checking the size and details before placing your order. But if something’s not right—especially in terms of quality—we’re here to help and will make it right.

We offer a 30-day return policy and accept returns for items damaged during shipping. Our return process is simple and straightforward:
Step 1 – Let us know: Send an email to info@topartprint.com with your order number and a brief explanation of the issue.
Step 2 – Send it back: We’ll reply with clear instructions for returning the print. Please return it in its original packaging and in good condition. You cover return shipping (unless we sent a damaged/incorrect item). After inspection, we'll send a replacement or refund the product price.
Please note: shipping costs are non-refundable.

For framed artworks: Since framed prints are handcrafted specifically for your order, returns are accepted only at our discretion and require a valid reason. But don’t worry—our support team is friendly, responsive, and ready to assist.

About the Painting

Bodies tumble through space – or maybe they float. Five gray figures, rendered in a monochrome palette of charcoal and cream, twist and interlock against a ground of hot yellow. Their limbs splay outward, fingers spread wide, feet bare and heavy. There is no water here, no diving board, no horizon line. And yet the sensation of plunging is unmistakable.

Fernand Léger painted Divers on a Yellow Background in 1941, while living in exile in the United States during the war. The memory behind it was specific: swimmers launching themselves off docks in Marseilles, their bodies caught in that suspended instant between leap and splash. But Léger has stripped away every trace of setting. No sea, no sky, no architecture. What remains is pure motion, pure weight, pure flesh – bodies that seem to tumble endlessly in a flattened, gravity-free zone.

The figures themselves are extraordinary. Painted entirely in grisaille, they carry the cool, sculptural solidity of carved stone, yet they bend and curl with an almost rubbery elasticity. Hands and feet are oversized, deliberately exaggerated, giving the bodies a physical heft you can almost feel. One figure reaches upward with splayed fingers; another curls inward, knees drawn tight. Their curly hair – rendered in clusters like bunches of grapes – adds an oddly decorative note to an otherwise muscular composition.

Around and behind these gray bodies, Léger has arranged bold, flat fields of primary color. Cadmium yellow dominates the center. Deep blue and signal red flank it on either side. Black biomorphic shapes – vaguely suggestive of totems or tree trunks – anchor the left and right edges, punctuated by white ovoids and organic blobs of green. The color exists on a completely separate plane from the figures, as if two paintings have been layered on top of each other. This deliberate separation was central to Léger's thinking during this period: he wanted color to operate independently, liberated from the forms it traditionally described.

The effect is startling. Where a painter like Matisse might dissolve the boundary between figure and ground in decorative unity, Léger insists on the gap. The divers belong to one visual register – tonal, volumetric, weighty – while the background belongs to another – flat, abstract, almost festive. Perhaps this tension is exactly what gives the painting its peculiar energy, a sense of bodies hurled into an alien environment they neither resist nor inhabit.

Composition spirals inward. Arms and legs radiate from the central knot of bodies like the spokes of a wheel, creating a centrifugal rhythm that pushes outward against the vertical framing shapes. There is no single right-side-up. Turn the painting ninety degrees and it still works. Léger wanted art that could reach a broad public, that could function on the scale of a mural, and this canvas – monumental in ambition if not quite in size – carries that democratic impulse in its bones.

Stand in front of it long enough and something shifts. The gray bodies stop looking acrobatic and start looking communal. They hold each other, brace against each other, fall together. In wartime exile, far from home, Léger made a painting about collective human weight – the sheer physical fact of being together, mid-air, with nothing underneath.

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