Maximilien LUCE - Piano Bar, circa 1920, original signed engraving

Maximilien Luce : (1858-1941) was a french painter, engraver, portraitist, poster designer, and a libertarian militant. His first known paintings date back from 1876. He used the pointillist technique, developped by Georges Seurat. Several influences left a mark on his paintings. He is from the workers world, he drew and painted scenes of industrial cities, and workmen whose efforts were often enthused. Like Camille Pissarro, Luce was an active anarchist, and painted workers scenes. In 1899 his first personal exhibition took place at the Durand-Ruel Gallery. He exhibited at the Salon des indépendants, where he met Georges Seurat, Camille Pissaro, Jules Louis Rame and Paul Signac, whom bought him a painting. At the end of his life, his style became more classic, and less militant. His works can be seen worldwide in private collections and important museums like the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the Musée d'Orsay in Paris.