Louis-marie Désiré-lucas (1869-1949), Walkers On A Path, Oil On Canvas, 81 X 65 Cm

Louis-Marie Désiré-Lucas (1869-1949), shaded avenue with walkers, large signed oil on its original canvas, painter of the Académie des Beaux-Arts

Oil on canvas by Louis-Marie Désiré-Lucas (1869-1949), the Breton painter elected to the Académie des Beaux-Arts in 1943, depicting a shaded avenue beneath a vault of foliage, enlivened in the distance by a small group of walkers. Large 25F format (81 x 65 cm) on its original canvas and keyed stretcher, by an artist represented in the Musée d'Orsay as well as in the museums of Brest, Quimper and Vannes. Painted in thin scumbles that let the grain of the canvas breathe, the light catching only the passages worked in impasto: the sunlit stretches of the path, the pale trunks, the orange highlights in the foliage. Presented in a wide gilt and silvered frame, in excellent condition, ready to hang.

Signed lower left « Desiré Lucas ». Undated; the handling and palette relate the work to the artist's full maturity, probably between 1920 and 1940.

A vertical composition organised around a pale path receding beneath the vault of trees, lined with trunks with low branches. At the vanishing point, in front of a grey façade pierced by an opening heightened in orange, the small group of walkers: a blue coat and a light headdress, a red jacket, a yellow-orange garment, a dark silhouette. The motif is related to the wooded avenues the artist painted several times at Les Plomarc'h, near Douarnenez — La hêtraie des Plomarc'h, L'allée de Plomarc'h —, the light headdress of one of the figures suggesting a Breton setting, although the place cannot be identified with certainty.

The painting is conducted in scumbles (a thin, dry layer brushed so as to let the grain of the canvas show through) in the sky, the foliage and the shadows of the path, the paint thickening only in the lights: cream and ochre touches laid flat on the sunlit stretches of the path, orange highlights in the foliage. Pale trunks drawn with a dry brush, their branches outlined with black accents in a lively, almost calligraphic stroke. Foliage built up with juxtaposed patches of moss green, pearl grey and ochre, broken with lavender blues. The figures of the walkers hold the only accents of pure colour. The handling shows the influence of Cézanne, often noted in the artist's work; he readily worked in series, taking up the same motif in different colour ranges according to the light.

A good-quality modern frame, not period: wide gilt and patinated cove, silvered inner steps, cream wooden slip underlined with a gilt fillet, crisp mitred corners.

Provenance: French private collection.

Conservation work in April 2021 by the Atelier de restauration d'art Charlotte Ricard, canton of Vaud (Switzerland): cleaning and varnishing of the painting, filling of a few losses to the frame. A copy of the invoice is provided with the painting.

Excellent condition. Never damaged, stable paint layer, no open craquelure, no dents or tears, good stretcher tension, recent and even varnish. On the reverse, a few pale old water stains, with no distortion of the support and no effect on the paint. No work required. Wire and screw eyes fitted on the back; the frame suits a period interior as well as a contemporary hang.

Dimensions:
• Height with frame: 103.5 cm (40.7 in)
• Width with frame: 88.5 cm (34.8 in)
• Canvas height: 81.2 cm (32 in)
• Canvas width: 65.5 cm (25.8 in)

Biography:
Born in Fort-de-France to a Breton father and a Creole mother, Désiré-Lucas grew up in Brest. In 1889 he entered the Académie Julian on a scholarship from the city, as a pupil of Bouguereau, Tony Robert-Fleury and Jules Lefebvre, then the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Discouraged by the rejection of his Ave Maria at the 1896 Salon, he followed the advice of Gustave Moreau — « Leave Paris, forget everything you have learned there » — and settled in Brittany, first in Vannes, then in Ploaré, at the manor of Kerbervet. A medal winner at the Salon des Artistes Français, bronze medal at the 1900 Exposition Universelle, Rosa-Bonheur prize in 1910, medal of honour at the 1936 Salon, he was elected to the Académie des Beaux-Arts in 1943, to the seat of Jacques-Émile Blanche. Douarnenez, Les Plomarc'h, Cap Sizun, Camaret and Ouessant provided most of his motifs, alongside working trips to the Côte d'Azur, Spain and Italy. He died in Douarnenez in 1949.

Bibliography: Marie-Paule Piriou, Louis Marie Désiré-Lucas (1869-1949), éditions Palantines, 2006.

Salon des Artistes Français:
1897: L'Âtre;
1899: La Forge;
1906: Le Déjeuner des enfants;
1907: Femme à la couture.

Works in public collections:
Brest, Musée des Beaux-Arts: La Jeune Ouessantine, 1886, oil on canvas; Portrait du médecin général Clarac, 1933, oil on canvas, 92.3 x 73.5 cm; L'Oblate, oil on canvas, 111.8 x 96.2 cm; La baie de Douarnenez vue de sainte Marie du Menez Hom, circa 1942, oil on canvas, 81 x 100 cm; Sur la petite cale, Douarnenez, circa 1947, oil on canvas, 81 x 100 cm.
Paris, Musée d'Orsay: Le Bénédicité, circa 1901, oil on canvas.
Péronne, Musée Alfred-Danicourt: Le Port d'Ondarroa, oil on canvas.
Quimper, Musée des Beaux-Arts: La Procession, 1909, oil on canvas.
Valparaíso, Museo Municipal de Bellas Artes: Vue de Florence, oil on canvas.
Vannes, Musée de la Cohue: Le Port de Camaret, oil on canvas.

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