He was born in Aigues-Mortes and during his childhood in Nîmes he showed a taste for drawing.
Early in the 1950s Léger acquired the farmhouse of Saint-André property in Biot, where he displayed large ceramic sculptures.
After Léger's death Nadia and Bauquier decideded to build a museum not far from that farmhouse to display Léger's works - the first stone was laid in February 1957 and it was opened on 13 May 1960 by Gaëtan Picon, director general of Arts and Literature.
In 1967 Nadia amd Bauquier chose 348 important paintings, drawings, ceramics, tapestries and bronzes from Léger's studio at Gif-sur-Yvette and donated them to the French state.
On 4 February 1969 André Malraux, minister for cultural affairs, opened the new "musée national Fernand-Léger" to house the works, with the two donors becoming its first directors and its collections later bolstered by deposits of works, paintings and drawings belonging to the pair.