A-Infos (en) France, Monde Libertaire - IDEAS AND STRUGGLES: Maximilien Luce, the Instinct for Landscape (ca, de, fr, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

Luce, the Independent ---- Maximilien Luce is among the painters 
inspired by anarchism, along with Pissarro, Signac, and Seurat. Until 
September 14, the Musée de Montmartre is presenting an exhibition 
entitled Maximilien Luce, the Instinct for Landscape. The self-portrait 
at the entrance to the exhibition highlights the modesty of the figure, 
who appears without objects, a characteristic of painters. As Alice S. 
Legé, co-curator of the exhibition, points out, he presents himself as 
he is: a human being. It should be noted that this museum previously 
presented an exhibition in 2023-2024 dedicated to Théophile-Alexandre 
Steinlen, another anarchist painter and draftsman. The organizers do not 
hesitate to highlight the artists' artistic talent and political 
commitment. Maximilien Luce was born on March 13, 1858, into a modest 
family living in the 7th arrondissement. He was 13 years old in 1871, 
and the sight of massacres caused by Versailles troops would leave a 
lasting impression on him. One of his most famous paintings is 
undoubtedly A Street in Paris in May 1871. A lithograph of this scene is 
included in the exhibition. Let's not forget the assassination of Varlin 
in Montmartre. Due to their size, these paintings are not exhibited at 
the Montmartre Museum; they can be found at the Musée d'Orsay and the 
Musée de Mantes-la-Jolie. Maximilien Luce painted or drew over 2,000 
works. Most often, this Neo-Impressionist painter focused on the 
weakest, the workers, and the common people, in simple scenes such as 
The Toilet or Interior, Rue Cortot.

Inspiration and Dialogue

His style is relatively independent. Pointillism is certainly prominent, 
particularly in La Seine à Herblay, and with Signac, he discovered and 
painted Le Port de Saint-Tropez. However, he did not limit himself to 
this technique, nor to the Montmartre area. He painted other areas of 
Paris such as the banks of the Bièvre and the quays of the Seine. He 
expanded into the suburbs, the Saint-Denis plain, the Seine valley, then 
Burgundy and Brittany. His style evolved, even though he intended to 
remain faithful to his master Camille Corot. Some paintings from the end 
of his life reflect this loyalty. Friends were important to Maximilien 
Luce; when he settled in Rolleboise near Mantes-la-Jolie, he was not far 
from Monet at Giverny, Bonnard at Vernon, Pissarro at Pontoise and then 
Eragny, even if he did not forget Le Maquis de Montmartre. An Anarchist 
Commitment

In 1881, he met the shoemaker Eugène Givort, who invited him to join the 
anarchist group in the 14th arrondissement. Within this movement, he 
worked with Jean Grave on La Révolte and Emile Pouget on Le Père 
Peinard. This collaboration led to his imprisonment in Mazas Prison in 
1894, a victim of the criminal laws. There, he met Félix Fénéon again. 
From this grim experience, he published an album and engravings 
exhibited in the museum, along with a lock he acquired during the 
prison's demolition. The prison building was designed as a panopticon, 
with no privacy, and it was impossible to know if the prisoner was being 
observed.

The City and Nature

Paris was transforming, and Maximilien Luce painted the construction 
sites: The Pile Drivers, the Scaffolding, The Construction Site, the 
People of Paris, Rue Mouffetard. In the catalog, we find the cover of 
The Trade Union Battle, a demonstration led by a red flag and a black 
one. It is reminiscent of Signac's The Demolitionist.

He also traveled at the invitation of his friends: London with Monet, 
Holland thanks to Van Dongen, Charleroi, and the Black Country with 
Emile Verhaeren. The paintings are intense, such as "Foundry in 
Charleroi, The Casting," or "The Glassworks."

During his life, he found serenity in a natural setting at Rolleboise, 
and some paintings are reminiscent of Corot, as is Méricourt. The beach 
echoes Seurat's The Island of La Grande Jatte or Signac's In the Age of 
Harmony. There, he became a sage, like Pissarro at Eragny. Let us note 
his unwavering will: in 1934, he signed André Breton's anti-fascist 
tract and in 1940, he resigned from the presidency of the Society of 
Independent Artists to protest Vichy's policy towards the Jews. He died 
in 1941, during these dark and sad years for a painter of light.

Don't miss the exhibition Maximilien Luce, The Instinct of Landscape, 
running until September 14, 2025, at the Musée de Montmartre, 12 rue 
Cortot. And its magnificent catalog.

The program "Au fil des pages" (Au fil des pages), broadcast on Radio 
Libertaire on Wednesday, May 28, 2025, from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., offers 
a tour of this exhibition with Alice S. Legé, one of the curators and 
head of conservation at the museum. Join us on 89.4 in the Paris region 
and on the Radio Libertaire website worldwide.

You may have noticed that May 28th is the last day of Bloody Week!

* Maximilien Luce catalog, the instinct for landscape
Ed. El Viso, 2025

https://monde-libertaire.fr/?articlen=8391
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