Le Déchargement de la péniche c. 1925 - 1930

Maximilien Luce painted "Le Déchargement de la péniche" using oil on canvas, and right away, what grabs me is how he’s not afraid to get down and dirty with color. There’s this industrial scene, a real gritty subject, but Luce brings this gorgeous, almost shimmering palette to it. Look at the guy with the sack, the way his skin glows a warm red against the cool blues of the water. The paint is applied pretty thickly, with visible brushstrokes that make the whole scene feel alive, like it’s constantly shifting and in motion. There’s no attempt to hide the process, which I love. You can almost feel the weight of that sack, the dampness of the air. This feels like a cousin to some of Courbet’s more working-class scenes, maybe with a dash of Impressionist light thrown in for good measure. But Luce brings his own tough poetry to it all. It’s a painting that reminds you that beauty can be found in the most unexpected places.