Maximilien LUCE (1858-1941) [FRANCE] - Lot 24

Maximilien LUCE (1858-1941) [FRANCE] Le Tréport, 1936 Oil on panel. Signed lower left. Titled and numbered 41 on the back. 38 x 46 cm. A committed neo-impressionist painter, Luce definitively abandoned postimpressionist and pointillist painting in the early 1900s. He returned to a more traditional style, stretching and softening his brushstrokes, but retaining the harmony and luminosity of his first period. Luce was interested in social inequality and the working class. He traveled France and the ports of Brittany, Normandy and the North, fascinated by maritime scenes. Here, Luce paints Le Tréport, a small fishing port on its way to becoming a major spa. The painter once again demonstrates his talent as a colorist and his ability to diffuse the light that animates landscapes and faces. Everything is just right, from the sea mist to the blazing colors of the sunset. The paintings of the last period of his life are imbued with a confident quietude.