Born in 1854 in Rochefort-sur-Mer, Marie Felix Hippolyte-Lucas studied under the great French Academic painters Isidore Pils, Karl Lehmann and Évariste Luminais. He became primarily known as a figure and portrait painter, and his oeuvre is filled with bright portraits of aristocratic women. He began exhibiting at the Paris Salon in 1877 and continued to do so until the year before his death, early numerous award over the years. Also a celebrated muralist, he composed decorative paintings for the casino in Monte Carlo, the conference centre at the Musée Océanographique in Monaco, the Paris Stock Exchange and three ceilings in the Préfecture du Rhône.