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Maximilien Luce

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Maximilien Luce
Born
Maximilien-Jules-Constant Luce

(1858-03-13)13 March 1858
Paris, France
Died6 February 1941(1941-02-06)(aged 82)
Paris, France
Known forPainting
MovementNeo-Impressionism
Self-portrait,c. 1925–1930

Maximilien Luce(French pronunciation:[maksimiljɛ̃lys];13 March 1858 – 6 February 1941) was a prolific FrenchNeo-impressionistartist, known for his paintings, graphic art, and his anarchist activism. Starting as a wood-engraver, he then concentrated on painting, first as an Impressionist, then as a Pointillist, and finally returning to Impressionism.

Early life and education

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The Artist's Room, rue Lavin,1878

Maximilien-Jules-Constant Lucewas born on 13 March 1858 in Paris. His parents, of modest means, were Charles-Désiré Luce (1823–1888), a railway clerk, and Louise-Joséphine Dunas (1822–1878). The family lived in theMontparnasse,a working-class district of Paris. Luce attended school at l'Ecole communale, beginning in 1864.[1][2]

In 1872, the fourteen-year-old Luce became an apprentice withwood-engraverHenri Théophile Hildebrand(1824–1897). During his three-yearxylographyapprenticeship, he also took night classes in drawing from instructors Truffet and Jules-Ernest Paris (1827–1895). During this period, Luce startedpainting in oils.He moved with his family to the southern Paris suburb ofMontrouge.His art education continued as he attended drawing classes taught by Diogène Maillard (1840–1926) at theGobelins tapestryfactory.[2]

Luce began working in the studio ofEugène Froment[fr](1844–1900) in 1876, producingwood-engravingsfor various publications, includingL'Illustrationand London'sThe Graphic.He took additional art courses, at l'Académie Suisse, and also in the studio of portrait painterCarolus-Duran(1837–1917). Through Froment's studio, Luce became friends with Léo Gausson andÉmile-Gustave Cavallo-Péduzzi.These three artists spent time aroundLagny-sur-Marnecreating Impressionist landscapes.[1]

Work

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Morning, Interior.The painting represents a close friend and a fellowNeo-ImpressionistGustave Perrot.
The port of Saint-Tropez,1893

Luce spent four years in the military, starting in 1879, serving inBrittanyatGuingamp.The next year, he received a promotion to corporal, and he became friends withAlexandre Millerand,who, in 1920, assumed the office ofPresident of France.In 1881 he requested the restoration of his lower rank of soldier, second class. Carolus-Duran used his influence to get a transfer for Luce to Paris barracks. His stint in the military came to a close in 1883.[3]

The prevalence of the newzincographyprinting process rendered xylography nearly obsolete as a profession.[1]When the opportunities for employment as an engraver became scarce, Luce shifted his focus to painting full-time in about 1883.[3]

Gausson and Cavallo-Péduzzi introduced Luce in about 1884 to theDivisionisttechnique developed byGeorges Seurat.This influenced Luce to begin painting in thePointilliststyle.[4]In contrast to Seurat's detached manner, Luce's paintings were passionate portrayals of contemporary subjects, depicting the "violent effects of light".[5]He moved toMontmartrein 1887. Luce joined theSociété des Artistes Indépendantsand participated in their third spring exhibition, wherePaul Signacpurchased one of his pieces,La Toilette.Camille Pissarroand criticFélix Fénéonwere also impressed by the seven Luce works displayed in the show.[4]Fénéon characterized Luce as a "coarse, honest man, with a rough and muscular talent."[6]In addition to Pissarro and Signac, he met many of the otherNeo-impressionists,including Seurat,Henri-Edmond Cross,Charles Angrand,Armand Guillaumin,Hippolyte Petitjean,Albert Dubois-Pillet,and Pissarro's sonLucien.[4]ANew York Timescritic declared this Pointillist period to be the pinnacle of Luce's artistic career, singling out the radiant 1895 paintingOn the Bank of the Seine at Poissyas an example. He described the skillfully executed painting as "a lyrical celebration of nature."[6]

Le bon samaritain,1896

With the exception of the years 1915 to 1919, Luce exhibited in every show at Les Indépendants from 1887 until he died in 1941,[4]including a thirty-year retrospective held in 1926.[7]In 1909, he was elected vice president of the Société des Artistes Indépendants,[8]and was elected president in 1935, following the death of Signac, who had held the post since 1908.[9]However, in 1940 he resigned from the position as a protest against theVichy regime's laws which would have prohibited Jewish artists from participating in the group.[10]Luce had his first solo exhibition, arranged by Fénéon, in July 1888, exhibiting ten paintings at theLa Revue indépendanteoffices.[1][4]He showed six paintings at the 1889Les XXexhibition inBrussels.While there, he met Les XX officialOctave Maus,as well asSymbolistpoetEmile Verhaerenand fellow Neo-impressionist painterThéo van Rysselberghe.[4]Luce's work was also featured in the ninth Les XX exhibition, in 1892.[11]

In the spring of 1892 Luce traveled with Pissarro to London. Later that year, he visitedSaint-Tropezwith Signac, and in the summer of 1893, he went toBrittany.[1]

Starting near the early part of the twentieth century, his identification with the Neo-impressionists began to disappear, as he became less active politically, and his artistic style shifted from Neo-impressionism, and he resumed painting in an Impressionist manner.[1][9]Some of his paintings during this period depicted wounded World War I soldiers arriving from the battlefront to Paris.[6]

Luce depicted a diverse range of subjects in his works over a long career. He most frequently createdlandscapes,but his other works include portraits,still lifes(especially florals), domestic scenes, such as bathers, and images of welders,rolling milloperators, and other laborers.[6][9]

Anarchism

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Félix Fénéon at Mazas,1894

Luce aligned with the Neo-impressionists not only in their artistic techniques, but also in their political philosophy ofanarchism.Many of his illustrations were featured in socialist periodicals, notablyLa Révolte,Jean Grave's magazine which was later calledLes Temps nouveaux.[1]Other socialist/anarchist publications which he contributed to includeLe Père Peinard,[4]Le Chambard,[11]andLa Guerre sociale.[8]On 8 July 1894, Luce, suspected of involvement in the 24 June assassination of President of FranceMarie François Sadi Carnot,was arrested and was confined toMazas Prison.He was released forty two days later, on 17 August, following his acquittal at theProcès des trente.He publishedMazas,an album consisting of tenlithographsdocumenting the experiences of himself and other political prisoners incarcerated in Mazas; accompanying the lithographs was text byJules Vallès.[11]In 1896, while KingAlfonso XIII of Spainwas visiting Paris, the police detained Luce on the grounds that he was a "dangerous anarchist".[12]

Luce's choice of subject matter for his art was often rooted in his political beliefs. Through his paintings, he passionately demonstrated empathy and fellowship with theproletariat.[1]

Family

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Madame Luce on the Balcony,1893

In 1893, Luce met Ambroisine "Simone" Bouin in Paris. She became his model, companion,[13]common-law wife,[14]and wife. Bouin was usually referred to as "Madame Luce", even before their eventual marriage. She was frequently a model for him, appearing in many of his works, often partially or fully nude, other times depicted in scenes such as on a balcony or combing her hair.[15]The couple's first son, Frédérick, was born on 5 June 1894, but he died fifteen months later, on 2 September 1895.[11]Their second child, whom they also named Frédérick, was born in 1896,[12]and in 1903 they adopted Ambroisine's nephew Georges Édouard Bouin, who had become orphaned. The couple got married on 30 March 1940 in Paris; just a few months later, Ambroisine died, inRolleboise,on 7 June 1940.[13]

Death and assessment

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Notre Dame de Paris,1900

Luce died at his Paris home on 7 February 1941, at the age of 83. He was buried inRolleboise.In May 1941, theBibliothèque nationale de Franceheld a memorial exhibition, and another memorial exhibition was mounted at Les Indépendants from March to April 1942.[16]

Luce was among the most productive of the Neo-impressionists, creating over two thousand oil paintings, a comparably large number of watercolors, gouaches, pastels, and drawings, plus over a hundred prints.[17]

TheMusée d'Orsayassesses Luce as "one of the best representatives of the neo-impressionist movement".[5]Although he had had many solo exhibitions of his work in France, the first one in the United States did not occur until a 1997 retrospective atWildenstein & Companyin Manhattan.[6]

Notre Dame de Paris,painted in 1900, sold at auction in May 2011 forUS$4,200,000, setting a record for a Luce work.[18]

Collections

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Public collections containing Luce's work include:

La Gare de l'Estin snow,1917, Musée de l'Hôtel-Dieu
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  • Man Washing, 1887
    Man Washing,1887
  • Port of London, Night High Museum of Art
    Port of London, NightHigh Museum of Art
  • Côte de la citadelle, 1892
    Côte de la citadelle,1892
  • Street Scene in Paris, 1896
    Street Scene in Paris,1896
  • Factory in the Moonlight, 1898
    Factory in the Moonlight,1898
  • L’Aciérie, 1899
    L’Aciérie,1899
  • Montmartre, de la rue Cortot, vue vers Saint-Denis, c. 1900
    Montmartre, de la rue Cortot, vue vers Saint-Denis,c. 1900
  • The Quai Saint-Michel and Notre-Dame, 1901
    The Quai Saint-Michel and Notre-Dame,1901
  • Les batteurs de pieux, 1902
    Les batteurs de pieux,1902
  • A Street in Paris in May 1871, 1903–1906
    A Street in Paris in May 1871,1903–1906
  • Paysage près de Méréville, c. 1905
    Paysage près de Méréville, c. 1905
  • The Port of Rotterdam, Evening, 1908
    The Port of Rotterdam, Evening,1908
  • Le chantier, 1911
    Le chantier,1911
  • The Execution of Varlin, 1914–1917
    The Execution of Varlin,1914–1917
  • Portrait of Doctor Marieux
    Portrait of Doctor Marieux

References

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  1. ^abcdefghNeo-Impressionist Painters, p. 323.
  2. ^abNeo-Impressionist Painters, p. 325.
  3. ^abNeo-Impressionist Painters, p. 326.
  4. ^abcdefgNeo-Impressionist Painters, p. 327.
  5. ^ab"Maximilien Luce, Neo-Impressionist. A Retrospective".Musée d'Orsay.2010.Retrieved20 September2013.
  6. ^abcdeGlueck, Grace (30 May 1997)."Painting His Way From Style To Style".The New York Times.p. 22.Retrieved20 September2013.
  7. ^Neo-Impressionist Painters, p. 331.
  8. ^abNeo-Impressionist Painters, p. 330.
  9. ^abcBorobia, Mar. (2009)."Biography and Works: Maximilien Luce".Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum.Retrieved21 September2013.
  10. ^"Maximilien Luce".Anarchist Encyclopaedia.Recollection Books. March 2006. Archived fromthe originalon 24 March 2013.Retrieved21 September2013.
  11. ^abcdNeo-Impressionist Painters, p. 328.
  12. ^abNeo-Impressionist Painters, p. 329.
  13. ^abDictionary of Artists' Models, p. 73.
  14. ^Neo-Impressionist Painters, p. 332.
  15. ^Dictionary of Artists' Models, p. 74.
  16. ^Neo-Impressionist Painters, p. 333.
  17. ^Neo-Impressionist Painters, p. 324.
  18. ^Kinsella, Eileen (17 May 2011)."$22 Million Monet Landscape Leads Christie's Imp/Mod Evening Sale".ARTnews.Retrieved24 September2013.

Sources

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Further reading

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Wikimedia Commons has media related toMaximilien Luce.
  • Bouin-Luce, Jean and Denise Bazetoux,Maximilien Luce, catalogue raisonné de l'œuvre peint,Paris, Editions JBL, 1986–2005.
  • Brown, Stephen, "Luce, the artist engage," PhD dissertation, Columbia University, New York, N.Y. 2003
  • Cazeau, Philippe,Maximilien Luce,Lausanne, Bibliothèque des arts, 1982.
  • Fénéon, Fanny,Correspondance de Fanny & Félix Fénéon avec Maximilien Luce, illustrée par Luce de portraits originaux,Tusson, Charetnte, Du Lérot, 2001.
  • Luce, Maximilien,Maximilien Luce, peindre la condition humaine,Paris, Somogy éditions d'art, 2000.
  • Luce, Maximilien,Maximilien Luce, Palais des beaux-arts, [Charleroi] 29 octobre-4 decembre 1966,Charleroi, Palais des beaux-arts, 1966.
  • Mantes-la-Jolie,Inspirations de bords de Seine, Maximilien Luce et les peintres de son époque,Paris, Somogy, 2004.
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