Maximilien LUCE (Paris 1858-Rolleboise 1941) Women... Lot 75

Maximilien LUCE (Paris 1858-Rolleboise 1941) Women and flowers Wooden box painted on the 4 sides and the lid with 5 scenes: 1 landscape, 2 studies of flowers, a woman with her back to the fields and a woman with a bouquet. Height: 15 cm, length: 19,5 cm, width: 15 cm Signed and dated in ink under the base Luce 1895. We thank Mrs Denise Bazetoux for confirming the authenticity of this work which will be listed in her archives. If we know an artist by his work painted on an easel, we too often forget that the decoration of their house or those of their friends was often a part of their artistic activity and privileged moments of intimacy in which they found another turn to their talents. If we think of Paul Gauguin trying his hand at ceramics and furniture making, if we think of Claude Monet as a colourist and gardener, of d'Espagnat as a decorator for the Durand Ruel family, of Maurice Denis or Albert Besnard for the Lerolles, or Vuillard for the Hessels, we can imagine Maximilien Luce less in this register. We present here a box that belonged to Mr Auguste Bauchy, owner of the Variétés café in Paris on the Grand Boulevards, where the whole world of the Arts met, since the owner accepted payment for drinks in works of art: "... a large number of writers, sculptors and painters met almost daily at mealtimes: Gauguin, Zuloaga, Seguin, Francisco Durrio, Paul Fort, Marius Gabion, Charles Morice. The owner, Bauchy, accepted in payment, if not the poets' verses, at least the painters' canvases...". Louis Lefebvre, a great figure of symbolism: Charles Morice, 1926. Our box appears in a family photo from 1952 and is listed on July 28, 1908 in the inventory of the liquidation of Madame Bauchy's repossessions, along with several works by van Gogh, Gauguin, Anquetin, Dubois Pillet and so many others. Provenance: Auguste Bauchy Collection, owner of the Café des Varietés Mrs Bauchy Most certainly n°105 of the minutes of the opening of the liquidation of Madame Bauchy on July 28, 1908, drawn up by Master Ernest Nottin, notary in Paris Then by way of succession and always remained in the family