Not Currently on View
Image Licensing
Luce's view of the rue Mouffetard, a busy street on the Left Bank of Paris, is one of his purest Neo-Impressionist efforts. The colors reflect the movement's reliance on the contrast of warm and cool hues, and his pointillist brushwork adds animation to the bustling market scene. The buildings lock into a sturdy vertical format that satisfies the Neo-Impressionist desire for firm compositions.
The working-class setting suits the Neo-Impressionists' interest in contemporary urban life and Luce's deep concern for the laborer. The neighborhood is still a popular market district, offering many of the same views and products as those Luce recorded more than a century ago.
Private Collection, Normandy, France.{1}
Sale (Palais Galliera, Paris, France) in 1966;{2}
(Hammer Galleries, New York, New York);{3}
W. J. (Jack) Holliday [1895-1977], Indianapolis, Indiana, in July 1969;{4}
bequest to the Indianapolis Museum of Art in 1979.{5}
{1} See Jean Bouin-Luce and Denize Bazetoux, Maximilien Luce: Catalogue de l'oeuvre peint, Paris 1986, volume 2, catalogue no. 205 (illustrated)
{2} Musée Galliera , Paris, Importants tableaux modernes, 10 December 1966, lot 20 (illustrated)
{3} Confirmed by Victoria Romeo, Hammer Galleries, in correspondence from March 2009. See also Hammer Galleries, New York, "Summer Exhibition: Recent Acquisitions," June to September 1967, catalogue no. 18 (illustration), and advertisement in Apollo, June 1967, p. lxxvi (illustration)
{4} See correspondence with Victoria Romeo, Hammer Galleries, cited above.
{5} IMA Temporary Receipt No. 3005.
