Maximilien Luce

MAXIMILIEN LUCE (Paris, 1858-1941).
"Landscape."
Watercolor on paper.
Signed in the lower right corner.
Measurements: 38.5 x 48 cm; 50 x 58 cm (frame).

In this landscape, through a purely personal language based on the impressionist style that years earlier had emerged in Paris, Luce synthesizes the basic elements of representation and expressiveness of painting, as seen in the intensity of the iridescent blues and the rigor of its compositional structure.

Maximilien Luce was one of the most famous exponents of French Neo-Impressionism. He trained as an engraver in Hildebrand's workshop, where he finished his training in 1876. He later worked with Eugène Froment engraving plates for publications. In the mid-1980s he became interested in the pointillist painting of Seurat, achieving moderate notoriety. He strengthened his knowledge of painting thanks to the guidance of Carolus Duran, Paul Signac and Camille Pissaro, with whom he maintained a sincere friendship. Luce made his debut in 1876 using the pointillist technique in the style of Georges Seurat. He exhibited for the first time in 1887 at the III Salon des Indépendants. From 1889 he participated with certain assiduity in artistic contests of Brussels, first in the Salon des XX and from 1895 in La Libre Esthétique of Paris, London and Brussels. It was in Belgium where he met Emile Verhaeren and Théo Van Rysselberghe, who marked a turning point in his career. An active anarchist, Luce visited the Borinage mining region and painted numerous workers' scenes, as well as the work of rolling mill workers, welders and other trades whose efforts he exalted. It was not until the end of his life that he returned to a more classical technique and a less compromising influence. In 1935 he agreed to become president of the Société des Artistes Indépendants, succeeding Signac. He is currently represented in the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum, the MET in New York, the Van Gogh Museum, the Museé des impressionnismes Giverny and the Museum of Modern Art, among other important institutions.