MAXIMILIEN LUCE | Le Départ des Voiliers
Oil on Paper mounted on Canvas
26 x 31 cms / 10¼ x 12¼ inches
Signed 'Luce' (lower right)
Several small sailing vessels move diagonally across a restless sea, their dark hulls and reddish sails angled sharply into the wind. The water fills most of the composition, rendered in layered strokes of turquoise, blue and pale green that suggest the movement of waves. Towards the horizon, additional boats appear as reduced silhouettes against a pale band of sky. The viewpoint is set close to the waterline, placing the viewer within the shifting surface of the Channel. Brushwork is loose and directional, with colour laid in broken touches that articulate both sea and sail. Painted in 1935, this work belongs to Maximilien Luce’s late maritime subjects, executed during periods spent along the northern French coast, where fishing craft and working boats provided recurring motifs within his broader landscape practice.
Maximilien Luce was one of the original pioneers of the Neo-Impressionist movement. Often known as the pointillists, these painters sought to apply optical science to art for the first time, challenging the looser technique of the older Impressionists. Using small brushstrokes, the style sought create an unprecedented brightness and vitality by using the contrasts and harmonies revealed by the invention of the colour wheel; understanding for the first time that the viewer’s eye was able to synthesise these into natural tones.
Having debuted at the Salon des Indépendants in 1887, Luce would go on to exhibit at every one of its shows until his death in 1941. As one of the foremost Neo-Impressionist artists, and a leading presence in the avant-garde at the end of the nineteenth century, Luce’s legacy as one of France’s great modern painters is assured, attested by the presence of his works in countless national institutions, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the Musée d’Orsay in Paris.
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