Maximilien Luce

Rheims Collection (and sold: Galerie Charpentier, Paris, Tableaux Modernes, December 8, 1959, lot 53)
Roger Hauert, Paris
Sale: Palais Galliera, Paris, Importants Tableaux Modernes, November 27, 1968, lot 102
Ansley Graham, Los Angeles (until 1986)
Private Collection

Charleroi, Palais des Beaux-Arts, Maximilien Luce, 1966, no. 101, illustrated in the catalogue
Ostend, Kursaal, Europa 1900, 1967, no. 48
Aspen, Colorado, The Aspen Art Museum, Beyond Impressionism, 1996
New York, Wildenstein & Co., Maximilien Luce, 1858-1941: The Evolution of a Post-Impressionist, 1997, no. 17, illustrated in the catalogue
Cologne, Wallraf-Richartz-Museum; Lausanne, Fondation de l'Hermitage, PointiIlismus: Auf den Spuren von Georges Seurat, 1997-98, no. 88, illustrated in color in the catalogue

Alain Mousseigne, "Saint-Tropez, Musée de l'Annonciade: peintures et dessins de Signac à Manguin," in Revue du Louvre, no. 5/6, 1980, pp. 368 & 370
Philippe Cazeau, Maximilien Luce, Lausanne & Paris, 1982, illustrated p. 119
Jean Bouin-Luce & Denise Bazetoux, Maximilien Luce, Catalogue raisonné de l'oeuvre peint, vol. II, Paris, 1986, no. 599, illustrated p. 151
Stephen Brown, "Exhibition Reviews...New York, Maximilien Luce," in Burlington Magazine, CXXXIX, no. 1134, September 1997, fig. 103, illustrated p. 656

Canvas is lined and held by a new stretcher. Colors are extremely rich and vibrant and the surface is wonderfully textured. At the right, left, and bottom edges there appear to be areas previously affected by prior frame abrasion. Under UV light: the right, left, top, and bottom edges show significant retouches and strokes of inpainting to address prior imperfections at the work's perimeter, possibly caused by a previous framing. Overall the work is in very good condition.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Madame Lucie Cousturier (née Lucie Brû) was a painter and writer associated with the Neo-Impressionist group that included Henri-Edmond Cross, Ker-Xavier Roussel and Maximilien Luce. A student of Paul Signac, Cousturier frequently exhibited her work at the Salon des Indépendents. Her artistic career is perhaps overshadowed by her relentless advocacy for some of the most famous painters of the day, and her immense scholarly output through the early 20th Century was partially responsible for the canonization of many key figures in the history of modern art. A prolific writer of literary, art and social criticism, Cousturier published in Félix Fénéon's Revue Blanche and composed important early monographs on Seurat, Signac, Cross, Denis and Bonnard.

A woman of fierce intellect and perfectly imperturbable attitude (evidenced by the present work and the below photograph), Cousturier was a frequent subject of Maximilien Luce. Luce often painted Cousturier at work in her studio, but the present work, featuring an elegantly costumed sitter against a subtly textured turquoise background, is perhaps his finest portrait of her. So taken with the picture was Félix Fénéon that he commissioned a miniature version of it for himself from Luce. The confluence of Luce's deft painterly skill and his important subject make the present work a stunning and rare record of a figure who defined the art and literary atmosphere of the last century.

Cousturier was famously the first owner of Georges Seurat's masterpiece La Grande Jatte, now in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago. She acquired the work circa 1891-94 and it hung in her Paris home for more than twenty-five years.

Fig.1 Lucie Cousturier seated before Georges Seurat's La Grande Jatte. Cousturier owned the painting from circa 1891-94 until 1924.