The Net Lifting - Louis-marie Désiré-lucas - Brittany

Dimensions:
unframed 44 x 55 cm,
framed 61 x 70 cm.

Pastel, dated 1909 and signed lower right.

Louis Marie Désiré-Lucas (1869-1949):
He was born in Martinique to a Breton father, a naval commissioner, and a Creole mother. He spent his childhood in Brest. In 1889, he entered the Académie Julian and then the École des Beaux-Arts, where he studied under Bouguereau, Robert-Fleury, and Lefebvre, thanks to a scholarship from the city of Brest. He exhibited for the first time at the Salon des Artistes Français in 1893.
In 1899, he settled in Vannes with his wife, Marguerite, and devoted himself to depicting scenes of Breton life. His submissions to the Salons were well received. In 1901, the French state purchased "The Grace," his first painting, now in the Musée d'Orsay, followed by "The Man of the Fields" in 1903. Charmed by the area, he left Vannes for Douarnenez in 1907. His interest in Breton landscapes was not his only focus. Also in 1901, he received a travel grant that allowed him to explore Holland, Germany, Italy, and Spain. For Désiré-Lucas, the true purpose of painting "is not the imitation of things, but the sensation they suggest to us and their placement in space through colored volume." Elected a member of the Institut de France, his talent as a "French artist" was recognized both in France and abroad. He participated in exhibitions alongside Maurice Denis, Matisse, Cottet, and many others.