"The Seine at Pont Saint-Michel," Maximilien Luce, 1900.

Luce (1858-1941) was a keen observer of city life and depicted the various social strata taking in an autumn afternoon.

Born to a working-class Paris family, he started as a wood engraver, then switched to painting, operating first as an Impressionist, then as a Pointillist, and then a Neo-Impressionist. You see some Impressionism here in capturing a moment in time, but also the Pointillism, especially in the trees.

An avowed anarchist, he was arrested on suspicion after the assassination of President Carnot in 1894; he spent 42 days in jail and later published a series of lithographs based on his experiences.

He gets a lot of respect in France, but here in the States he is not well known. Time for that to change.

From the Museum Barberini, Potsdam.

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