Maximilien Luce (1858-1951) Drawing Study Man Signed

Beautiful drawing signed by the famous French painter Maximilien Luce (1858-1951).

This is certainly a study of a worker at rest.
One of the painter’s favorite subjects.
From this drawing a real vital force emerges. In a few strokes of skillful pencil, the painter’s talent perfectly transcribes the strong musculature of this sleepy worker.

This work is in very good condition and beautifully framed.

Dimensions without frame: 25 x 17 cm
Dimension with frame: 37 x 29 cm

Maximilien Luce (1858-1951)

Born in Paris on March 13, 1858, Maximilien Luce first worked as an apprentice. He was 13 years old when the Parisian people rebelled during the days of the Paris Commune. He will always remember this period, keeping a personal commitment to his former communal friends. The son of a worker, he always aspired to an egalitarian ideal, by putting in scene in his work the most humble workers: those of the yards and the steelworks, but also the small trades, the remover, the drummers of stakes, the floor shiners.

In 1872 he enrolled in evening classes to become an engraver and in 1876 he entered as a skilled worker in an engraving workshop at Froment, which produced many illustrated newspapers.

He left in 1877 with Froment for London and returned to France two years later for military service, first in Brittany and then in Paris, where he studied under Carolus Duran. Wishing to work outdoors, like the impressionists, he received the advice of Camille Pissarro, with whom he befriended, before meeting Paul Signac, Georges Seurat, Théo Van Rysselberghe and Louis Valtat, founders of the École des Néo-Impressionnistes.
Interested in research on the effects of light and on the effects of prisms rendered by colors, he works in a divisionist style, producing many pointillist paintings on the life and streets of Paris.

Interested in research on the effects of light and on the effects of prisms rendered by colors, he works in a divisionist style, producing many pointillist paintings on the life and streets of Paris.

In 1887, Maximilien Luce joined the Société des Indépendants under Paul Signac and took an active part in the group’s exhibitions.
Wanting to be an active witness of his time, Maximilien Luce had adopted this egalitarian ideal, which he staged in his work . This did not prevent him from composing otherwise admirable landscapes by pushing the principles of impressionism to its extreme consequence by practicing the technique of pointillism.

At the same time, he also contributed to anarchist newspapers such as "Le Père Peinard" or "La Révolte", as well as "L'Assiette au Beurre", which were widely read at that time. He is involved in the "Trial of the Thirty" in 1894 and is imprisoned 40 days with 22 of his friends for "anarchist leaders", before taking refuge in Charleroi, where he makes known divisionism in Belgium. Pissarro, Signac, Cross and art critic Fénelon support Luce in his fight against inequality.

From the 1910s onwards, Maximilien Luce, considering that he had exploited the divisionist technique, turned to a less strict technique by painting urban scenes and multiplying the representations of men at work in a post-impressionist style.

Established in Rolleboise from 1920, he produced many paintings representing landscapes less appreciated than his earlier works.
In 1935, he succeeded Paul Signac as president of the Society of Independent Artists, a post from which he resigned during the German occupation in protest against the ban on Jewish artists exhibiting.

During his career, Maximilien Luce produced a large number of oils, drawings and illustrations, especially in his early days, as well as lithographs. He also maintained close correspondence with many painters, such as Seurat, Van Rysselberghe and Valtat, before dying in Paris on February 6, 1941.

Photos are taken in natural light.
Neat packaging.
Shipping costs borne by the buyer.
I remain at your disposal for any further information and photos.