Maximilien Luce French, 1858-1941

Maximilien Luce started his artistic career as a wood-engraver and lithographer, providing illustrations for various magazines. Fascinated by the Neo-Impressionist techniques of Georges Seurat and Paul Signac, Luce experimented with a divided touch, a style which was the amalgamation of these two artists’, from 1884 to 1895. This had a profound impact on his works. He painted some of his well-known works, such as, La Seine à Herblay, under Signac's influence. From 1896, Luce returned to a more traditional, impressionist approach. Luce's frequent encounters with Camille Pissarro, during his stays in Eragny doubtless played their part in his artistic development. The painters became friends, the elder attempting to convince the younger to move away from Neo-Impressionism.

Luce painted the streets of Paris, not the elegant boulevards of the Impressionists, but the everyday life of the working classes in suburbs like Montmartre, or from the banks of the Seine. 

Taking full advantage of the findings of the Neo-Impressionists, Luce integrated the Impressionist "experience" with his pointillist discoveries, in doing so, Luce demonstrated his unique talent.

His works are currently in numerous museums worldwide, such as, San Diego Museum, San Diego ;Giverny Museum, Giverny ; Musée du Petit Palais, Geneva ;  Musée d'Orsay, Paris ;  Musée Thyssen-Bornemizsa, Madrid.