Péniche Au Bord De La Seine c. 1910

Maximilien Luce painted this scene of a barge on the Seine with visible brushstrokes and a palette of blues, greens, and browns. You can almost feel Luce at work here, shifting and adjusting the image, building it up from a foundation of intuition and lots of experimentation. I bet he was trying to capture the feeling of a misty morning, the way the light hits the water, the reflections, and the industrial landscape in the background. The paint isn't too thick, but you can see each stroke, like he's trying to build the scene out of pure color. Look at the way he's laid down those strokes of green and blue, side by side, creating a sense of movement and light on the water. Luce comes from a whole tradition of painters looking at modern life and working outside. They inspire each other across time, embracing uncertainty, and allowing for multiple interpretations. It's like they're all in conversation.