Thyssen-Bornemisza Museo Nacional Search Ir al contenido principal

Navegación superior (EN)

About Us Support Become Friend Shop Tickets
Español
Visit Collection Exhibitions Activities Education Search
  • Visit
  • Collection
  • Exhibitions
  • Activities
  • Education

Thyssen - Navegación superior (EN)

About Us Support Become Friend Shop Tickets
Español
©
VEGAP, Madrid
Maximilien Luce

Calle de París

1886 - 1888
Oil on canvas.
32.7 x 40.7 cm
Carmen Thyssen Collection
Inv. no. (
CTB.2000.62
)
ROOM G
Level 0
Carmen Thyssen Collection and Temporary exhibition rooms
A B C D E F G H I J Hall Temporary exhibition rooms Access to Permanent Collection Entrance Access to Carmen Thyssen Collection Paseo del Prado Garden
A 17th and 18th Centuries. Old Masters B 19th Century. North American Landscape C 19th Century. French Naturalist Landscape D 19th Century. Impressionism E 19th Century. Monet and North American Impressionism F 19th Century. Gauguin and Postimpressionism G 19th and 20th Centuries. Neo Impressionism and its Wake H 20th Century. Early Avant-gardes I 20th Century. Between the Wars Painting. Cubism, Abstraction and Surrealism J 20th Century. North American Painting and Others • HALL

Maximilien Luce was born in Paris on 13 March 1858. His father was a Parisian rail worker and his mother came from the Beauce, which may explain the fact that he was equally interested in town and country. From the age of 16 he served as an apprentice in a wood carving workshop, but he soon started attending evening classes at the Académie Suisse, where he met Carolus-Durand.

After his military service, he earned a living as an engraver in the Froment workshop where he met Léo Gausson and Cavallo-Peduzzi, who already belonged to the "Groupe des Indépendants". These contacts proved crucial for Luce's future career.

The Impressionist revolution had a powerful effect on the young artist, who until then had only painted rather sombre family portraits and austere-if promising-indoor scenes.

However, while Luce could clearly not remain indifferent to the experience of colour division, he never assimilated without restriction the neo-Impressionist influence. His independent character could not accept without reticence a theory with such clearly defined limits. Let us say that he remained, with regard to the neo-impressionists, a sympathiser who knew how to assimilate their experiments and their use of pure colour. But this did not prevent him from having his own views; Luce let himself more willingly be guided by his instinct than by theory, following in this regard the example of Pissarro, who only experimented with Pointillism for a short period.

This explains the fact that Luce alternated between the divisionist technique, which marked most of his works between 1888 and 1897, and a freer style, with a wider brushstroke. Clearly, the divided stroke slows down the process of painting, and this became an annoying curb for such a spontaneous painter as Luce proved to be.

Between 1888 and 1892 he exhibited every year in the Salon des Indépendants, where he presented mainly views of Paris and of its suburbs.

This Street of Paris, composed entirely in perspective, dates from this period. It is one of the many paintings in which Luce, bearing witness to his time, enjoyed showing the bustling streets and river banks, where each character of the crowd is not only present but alive. After studying them through many sketches, Luce painted them with a few quick brushstrokes.

In his preface to the catalogue of the 1958 retrospective at the Maison de la Pensée Française, Georges Besson wrote about Luce in the following terms: "What other contemporary painter was such a penetrating portraitist? Who evoked with such power of means the misery of the soldiers on leave at the Gare de l'Est in 1916, the housewives queuing outside the shops [...] the shattered streets lined with hovels in Paris, the world of the embankers, of the rolling-mill workers, [...] the cobbler's stall [...] or else, The Worker having a Wash [...]?".

This Street of Paris of 1888 clearly illustrates Luce's acceptance of neo-Impressionism, and his resistance towards theory: the stroke is divided, but with a certain degree of freedom; the same freedom shown in the passers-by walking along the street or crossing it, attending to their business or going to work. The painting also recalls the different versions of La Rue des Abbesses made a few years later, once Luce had mastered his art.

But analysing his works, one feels that even when Luce was tempted to escape from the theory, he still integrated its principles in his art, which is impregnated with them. The paintings of 1895 show a degree of freedom in which divisionism, while not predominant, remained perceptible for a long time.

Denise Bazetoux
 

19th Century19th Century - French paintingPaintingOilcanvas
Listen
Download image Print page

Products and publications

Poster Vincent van Gogh: Les Vessenots in Auvers

Poster Vincent van Gogh: Les Vessenots in Auvers

12.50 €

Hyperreal Pin stamp letter P

Hyperreal Pin stamp letter P

78.00 €

Poster Edgar Degas. Swaying Dancer, 1877-1879

Poster Edgar Degas. Swaying Dancer, 1877-1879

12.50 €

Max Beckmann, figuras del exílio. Exhibition catalogue. Paperback Spanish language edition.

Max Beckmann, figuras del exílio. Exhibition catalogue. Paperback Spanish language edition.

9.50 €

Visit online shop

More from the collection

Maximilien Luce
Maximilien Luce
Rolleboise, Resting under a Tree
ca. 1925
Maximilien Luce
Maximilien Luce
The Outskirts of Rolleboise seen through the Trees
ca. 1920 - 1930
Maximilien Luce
Maximilien Luce
Bessy, Yonne, the Shaded Path
1905
Maximilien Luce
Maximilien Luce
Factory in the Moonlight
1898
  • Private and/or didactic use
  • Commercial use
Private and/or didactic use
Calle de París. Calle de París, 1886-1888
Calle de París
Maximilien Luce

©

VEGAP, Madrid

Terms of Use

The exploitation rights of the images correspond to the Fundación Coleccion Thyssen-Bornemisza, F.S.P. The Fundación authorizes the downloading of high-resolution images from its website for private use, use for educational and research purposes and non-commercial uses.

However, photographed works are protected by copyright. Therefore, regardless of the terms of use of the images set out below by the Foundation, it will be necessary to obtain a license from VEGAP (www.vegap.es), or from the corresponding collective management organisation in the country where the work is going to be used or, where appropriate, from the holder of their rights in order to reproduce or exploit the work.

Use for educational and research purposes is understood as the non-commercial or advertising use of images in presentations, conferences, school or university work, in classes at regulated education institutions, as well as in academic publications, with a circulation of less than 1,000 copies, provided that it is non-profit.

Non-commercial use is understood as the use of the images in a context where no profit, monetary or commercial, is generated, directly or indirectly.

Any use other than those indicated above will require the prior written authorization of the Fundación.

Any request for educational and research use or for non-commercial use (including academic publications), should be directed by email to the Museum Photo Library through the email address archivo.fotografico@museothyssen.org. This department manages the worldwide distribution of the images of the works of the Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza and the management of their reproduction rights for those uses.

The user agrees to use the image of the website solely and exclusively for the purposes described above and in accordance with the following terms of use, which, however, do not apply to the reproduction of photographs, as they are protected by Copyright.

Terms of use

  • If the image is used for reproduction, the work must be reproduced in its entirety. The image may not be manipulated, deformed, modified or altered in any way. In particular, no superposition (of images or texts) on the reproduction is allowed.
  • The reproduction of a detail or part of the work may only be made with the prior written authorization of the Fundacion. In this case, the credit line must include the following mention: “detail”.
  • Any total or partial reproduction of the images of the Fundación that has been previously authorized must be accompanied by the copyright text indicated by the owners or their copyright holders as well as the following mention: Provenance: Carmen Thyssen Collection.
  • The user will send free of charge to the Museum Photo Library one (1) free copy of the edition, publication or reproduction to the following address: Archivo Fotográfico, Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza, Paseo del Prado, 8 28014 Madrid, Spain.
Download image
Commercial use
Calle de París. Calle de París, 1886-1888
Calle de París
Maximilien Luce

©

VEGAP, Madrid

Terms of Use

The Photo Library of the Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza offers sale and rental service of photographic material of all the works of the Carmen Thyssen Collection.

To request images or permits for commercial use in academic or research publications, that is, catalogues of other institutions, monographs and other specialized publications, you should contact the Museum's Photo Library by email at the e-mail @email.

To request images or permits for other commercial or advertising uses (general publications, merchandising, exhibitions, audio-visual works, web pages, etc.), you should contact the Museum's Commercial Archive by email at the e-mail archivo.fotografico@museothyssen.org.

The Photo Library and the Museum's Commercial Archive manage the worldwide distribution of images of the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza works, as well as their reproduction rights. The applicable rates are calculated based on the nature and proposed use of the images, as well as the availability of the requested image.

Requests for scans or new photographs will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. Once approved, an additional fee will apply. Re-photographing a work will require a minimum of six weeks to complete.

However, photographed works are protected by copyright. Therefore, regardless of the terms of use of the photographs set out below by the Foundation, it will be necessary to obtain a license fromVEGAP (Visual Entidad de Gestión de Artistas Plásticos www.vegap.es) or from the corresponding collective management organizations in the country where the work is going to be used or, where appropriate, from the holder of their rights in order to reproduce or exploit the work.

Download image
Thyssen-Bornemisza Museo Nacional

Navegación secundaria (EN)

  • #Thyssenmultimedia
  • Press
  • Corporate events
  • Tourism
  • Join our team
  • Newsletter
Instagram
Facebook
X
Youtube
TikTok
iVoox
LinkedIn

The Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza would like to thanks for the collaboration of:

Fundación Mutua Madrileña Master Card Comunidad de Madrid
©2025 Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum

Menú al pie (EN)

  • Legal terms and use of images
  • Public tenders
  • Transparency site
  • Accessibility and quality
  • Sustainability & 2030 Agenda
  • Contact
Ministry of Culture España es cultura | Spain is culture. The website promoting Spanish culture Paisaje de la Luz | Paseo del Prado y Buen Retiro. Paisaje de las Artes y las Ciencias
Certificación de Conformidad con el Esquema Nacional de Seguridad. Categoría Media. RD 311/2022