A student of the Academie Julian, and a resident of La Ruche, a building of tremendous artistic activity in Montparnasse area of Paris. There Leger met Delaunay and Chagall. His early paintings were in the Impressionist style, although he moved through cubism to a new form of classicism.
Leger enlisted with the French Army and served during World War 1. When the War was over, Leger completed several mammoth murals, one of which is located at the General Assembly Room of the United Nations Building in New York. It was donated anonymously and is the only gift to be accepted by the UN, thereby emphasizing the international character of the building.