Two blogs ago, I wrote of a little-known but highly gifted female impressionist painter. (Morisot) This time, I'd like to tell you of a man of the same period who was also very talented but is not well known today - Maximilien Luce (1858-1941).Ever heard of him? Well I hadn't either until I had to write an essay on an impressionist painter. Knowing the teacher would be inundated with papers on Monet, Degas, and Van Gogh, I researched and found Luce.
Luce was a wonderful and interesting find - painter, lithographer and anarchist. He painted landscapes and urban life. (Along with Seurat and Signac he originated pointillism - a technique where small dots of color optically blend to create an image. )Luce was also known for painting subjects of social realism - war, citizen revolts,
industry's effects on people and the land, and the plight of the those out of power. These were the images that would lead to his arrest, trial and conviction. (Google: "Trial of the Thirty")However, after release Luce continued his political resistance in his paintings albeit more subtly. At age 76, he was elected President of the Société des Artistes Indépendants. He soon resigned in protest against the society's policy to restrict the admission of Jewish artists.
He always stood by what he believed. Could this be why we know so little of him in the history of Impressionism? What do you think?
