Maximilien Luce

Private Collection (acquired directly from the artist)
Sale: David Kahn & Associés, Paris, November 29, 2004, lot 22
Private Collection, Switzerland (acquired at the above sale and sold: Sotheby's, New York, November 3, 2005, lot 222)
Acquired at the above sale

Denise Bazetoux, Maximilien Luce, Catalogue raisonné de l'oeuvre peint, vol. III, Paris, 2005, no. 27, illustrated p. 59

This work is in excellent condition. The canvas is not lined. The colors and extremely bright and fresh. The surface is richly textured and the impasto has been well preserved. There are extremely minor lines of stable craquelure to the areas of the thickest pigment in the lower right quadrant. Under UV light small spots of inpainting is visible in the upper left corner and in a couple spots in the sky. Otherwise fine.
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.

In 1887, Camille Pissarro introduced Luce to the Neo-Impressionist painters Georges Seurat, Paul Signac and Henri Edmond Cross, which had a tremendous impact on his work in the early 1890s. Acting as patriarch of the Neo-Impressionist circles, Pissarro encouraged the younger Luce to move from pure and theoretical Neo-Impressionism to a more practical application of Divisionist technique in his painting. Charles Saunier recalled, “Maximilien Luce never bothered much about theory. The principles of the contrasts of colours were subordinated to his strong personality and his impressions” (Charles Saunier, “Salon des Indépendants”, La Plume, April 1893, p. 171, quoted in Maximilien Luce: Neo-Impressionst Retrospective (exhibition catalogue), Musée des impressionnismes Giverny, Giverny, 2010, p. 14).

So too did Pissarro inspire Luce to break away from the stark, unoccupied compositions of his peers: “While the landscapes of Seurat and Signac are often devoid of all human presence and owe their animation primarily to the dynamics of the guiding lines, Luce liked to describe the people in the streets and on the quays… This interest in humanity is one of the many things Luce has in common with Pissarro. They shared…a marked predilection for the depiction of labour” (ibid., p. 14). In Montmartre, la rue des Saules, In Montmartre, la rue des Saules Luce depicts his home, where he lived from 1888 to 1898, and populates it with two anonymous figures, both clothed in a modest uniform of straw hats and black tops. These characters add extra energy to an already dynamic composition, the skillful modeling of which proves Luce's ability as a powerful colorist.