Luce – Lying Man

Maximilien Luce (1858 Paris – 1941 Paris)

LYING MAN (STUDY FOR ‘DEAD SOLDIER’)

Pencil on paper, 16.6 x 25.6 cm
Luce estate stamp lower right

‘Reclining Man’ is a preparatory study for the oil paintings that Luce painted between 1901 and 1905 in memory of the Paris Commune uprising, which was bloodily suppressed in 1871. The fallen man still holds his fist clenched. The artist had a difficult time with his political paintings in the circle of the Impressionists and their collectors. Nevertheless, he painted them out of political conviction.