184 - Maximilien Luce (1858–1941)

Maximilien Luce (1858–1941) The Arsonist. (Plate 1 from the *Les Temps Nouveaux* album). 1896. Autograph. 290 x 380 [425 x 571 mm]. I.F.F. 24; Dardel 56. A very fine proof print on ivory-colored laid paper, with a poem handwritten in pen and sepia ink in the lower left margin (“Les Saisons” by Émile Verhaeren), then signed and dated. Creases, dust, and small tears along the edges, particularly at the bottom right. A short tear along the right edge, previously reinforced on the reverse. Traces of glue in the corners on the reverse. AABM stamp (Lugt 3075). The plate appeared alongside the typeset text in the April 25, 1896, issue of the anarchist journal *Les Temps nouveaux* (ed. Jean Grave). "Émile Verhaeren was a deeply committed writer. Social themes abound in his poetry. He was active in the art circle at the Maison du Peuple in Brussels. In Paris, he emerged as a sympathizer of the anarchist cause: he published several of his poems in the anarchist journal *Les Temps nouveaux*. To ensure the journal’s financial viability, the idea arose to raise funds through art editions created by sympathetic artists. These were no less than: Paul Signac, Théo van Rysselberghe, Maximilien Luce, Henri-Edmond Cross, Charles Angrand, Alexandre-Théophile Steinlen, Camille and Lucien Pissarro... The first edition, from 1896, was a lithograph by the French artist Maximilien Luce: *L’Incendiaire* (The Arsonist), a figure inspired by Verhaeren’s poem “Les Saisons,” published in *L’Almanach du Père Peinard*. “L’Incendiaire” was the symbol of the revolt that was to abolish the existing order.” (Émile Verhaeren Museum).