Luce started as a commercial engraver, and perfected his drawing skills under Eugene Froment and in professional studies in England. He returned to Paris in 1879, served four years of required military service and found himself enamored of the rising Impressionists. Luce proved versatile enough to study landscape painting at the side of his close friend Pissarro and still pull from the broader spectrum of emerging artistic disciplines in France, and traveled from Impressionism to Pointillism and back to an Impressionistic style with touches of Fauvism, partially influenced by Henri Matisse.

His adoption of the different yet related techniques is partially responsible for the diverse range of his artistic output. He was drawn to portray the locales where he lived, first in Montmarte, then Auteuil and back to Paris, painting the streets, businesses and wharves of each city. Professionally he was elected president of the Society of Independent Artists in 1934 after Signac retired.