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 was a pupil of Bouguereau, Robert-Fleury and Lefebvre, thanks to a scholarship he received from the town 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 reproducing scenes of Breton life. His submissions to the "Salons" were noticed. In 1901, the State bought him "Le Bénédicité", his first painting, which is kept in the Musée d'Orsay, then "L'homme des champs" in 1903. He left Vannes for Douarnenez in 1907, charmed by the place. His interest in Breton landscapes was not exclusive. As early as 1901, he obtained a travel grant which took him to Holland, Germany, Italy and Spain. For Désiré-Lucas, the true aim of painting "is not the imitation of things, but the sensation they suggest to us and their situation in space through coloured volume". Appointed a member of the Institute, his talent as a "French artist" was recognised in France and abroad. He participated in exhibitions with Maurice Denis, Matisse, Cottet and many others...