PROVENANCE:
Galerie Elegance, Taipei
Acquired by the present owner from the above in 1991

ILLUSTRATED:
Jean Bouin-Luce & Denise Bazetoux, Maximilien Luce , Catalogue de l’oeuvre peint – tome II , Paris, 1986, black-and-white illustrated, no. 2593, p. 592

This painting is to be sold with a certificate of authenticity issued by Galerie Elegance, Taipei.

BAIGNEURS
MAXIMILIEN LUCE

Born in Paris in 1858, Luce became a printmaker at the Atelier Eugène Froment in 1876, and later enrolled at l'Académie Suisse. Luce displayed his work at the Salon des indépendants in 1887, where he met up-and-coming members of the neo-impressionist movement such as Camille Pissarro, Georges Seurat, and Paul Signac. He became one of their league, and regularly participated in the salons. In 1899, the Gallery Durand-Ruel held an important solo exhibition for him. In 1909, he succeeded Signac's position as vice chairman of the Salon des indépendants. In 1921, he took part in the Trente ans d'Art Indépendant, 1884-1914 at the Grand Palais. In 1934 he was voted chairman of the société des artistes indépendants.

Unlike Georges Seurat, who focused on the recreational activities of the middle class, Luce loved to depict the daily lives of the public and the working class, and recorded the cityscape of late 19th century industrial development through the eyes of an artist. As for the composition of his paintings, he utilized the purple and blue tones prevalent to the pointillist techniques of the neo-impressionists. He also emphasized the angle of light, depicting surfaces that faced towards and away from the light source with strong contrast. True to the impressionist style, the artist often traveled to Côte d'Azur, Normandy, Brittany or London. Shimmering waters and the leisure activities of late 19th century Europe is another popular theme of Luce's paintings.

Baigneurs is Luce's masterful depiction of children playing in water on a summer day. The sunlight and shadows on the ground go from right to left. The positions of the four boys in the foreground create a right triangle composition along the diagonal line, from standing, kneeling, leaning forward, to lying hunched on the ground, smoothly guiding the movement of the viewer's gaze. The orange shorts of the middle boy is the central point of the image, and as such draws out the depth of the painting while creating a stark contrast to the light blue tones of water in the backdrop. The blues are tinged with green, greens tinged with pale purple; his brushstrokes lightly glide over the surface, ever so smoothly, as if the artist himself is submerged in the cool, refreshing water. As for the four swimmers in the back, Luce used only a single, fluid stroke to capture their movements, like a breeze passing through. The children, leaping and ran, chattering in fun and in play, are forever preserved in this moment out of a warm sunlit afternoon.