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Though many of Léger's paintings celebrate machine-made objects and modern city life, in the late 1920s he began to incorporate natural forms into his work.  The curving line down the left-hand side of the painting softens the underlying geometric structure of horizontal and vertical lines, acting as a link to the organic shapes of leaves and shell.  In turn, these naturalistic elements, with their streamlined shapes, appear closely related to the abstract parts of the image.