“Three Women” by Fernand Leger was made in 1921-1922, as part of the “The New Spirit in Paris” Collection. This exhibit aimed to integrate French traditions into the new, violent, post-World War 1 world. Fernand Leger himself was an experienced combat engineer in the French Military during World War 1.
A common trope especially in French art is painting naked women. Hence the phrase “paint me as your french girls.” “Three Women” is a subversion of this cliche. I think what makes the art piece contemporary is that it is reactionary to modernism, in this specific case, modern technology. The painting doesn’t look manmade, but instead machine-made. There are no human-like strokes in the piece but instead precise curves made to look as if it was machine-precision. The women stare at the viewer directly, but without expression, they look cold and emotionless, robotic. The colors are bright, yet nothing stands out. The background and foreground blend together, as if a human didn’t design both separately, instead a machine generated the image all in one, such as our AI does today. In summary, the painting blends together traditional french art with the new technology driven world of the early 20th century.