(1858 Paris 1941)

Le Village à travers les Arbres. 1896.

Oil on artists board.

Signed and dated lower right: Luce 96.

34.5 x 49.5 cm.

Provenance:
- Private collection London.
- Salis & Vertes, Salzburg.
- Private collection Switzerland, bougth in 1999 at the above gallery.
- Private collection Switzerland, by descent to the present owner.

Literature: Bazetoux, Denise: Maximilien Luce. Catalogue de l'oeuvre peint, vol. II, Paris 1986, p. 135, no. 538 (with ill.).

In 1887, Maximilien Luce first exhibited several works in the "Salon des Indépendants". Around that time many artists in the circle of the French Impressionists had joined the "Société des Indépendants", the gathering place of the then avant-garde in Paris. Originally trained as a copper engraver, Maximilien Luce found a fatherly advisor in Camille Pissarro, who brought him closer to the Impressionist painting technique, but who was already influenced by Neo-Impressionism himself. Luce also became friends with the Pointillists and employed the Divisionist technique. However, it soon became apparent that this manner of painting was relatively rigid, and thus Luce developed a freer style.

The present landscape, created in 1896, is a very fine example of the transition that Maximilien Luce made during those years—away from a strict Divisionism towards a more classic Impressionism. In the background is the distinctive and legendary Cathedral of Gisors.