Maximilien LUCE 1858-1941

Maximilien Luce, born in Paris on March 13, 1858, remains a key figure in French Neo-Impressionism.Coming from a modest background, he began his artistic career as a wood engraver, a profession he practiced from his teenage years. Drawn to painting, he attended the École des Arts Décoratifs and the Académie Suisse, and perfected his skills in the studio of Carolus-Duran. Deeply affected by the events of the Paris Commune, his political and social commitment permeated his entire body of work.

After his military service, he devoted himself entirely to painting, adopting the technique of Divisionism under the influence of Seurat and Signac. From 1887, he exhibited at the Salon des Artistes Indépendants and rubbed shoulders with the leading figures of the Neo-Impressionist movement. Luce subtly illustrated working-class life, landscapes, and intimate scenes, bathing his compositions in a vibrant light.

Close to libertarian circles, he collaborated with anarchist newspapers, and Luce never ceased to associate art with civic engagement. Appointed president of the Société des Artistes Indépendants in 1934, he resigned in 1940, refusing to endorse the anti-Semitic laws of the Vichy regime.

Shortly before his death, he married his lifelong companion, Ambroisine Bouin. Maximilien Luce died in Paris on February 7, 1941, leaving behind a rich body of work comprising more than two thousand paintings, engravings, and drawings, preserved in major institutions such as the Musée d'Orsay. A painter of light and social struggles, Luce embodies a rare alliance between aesthetic rigor and political awareness.