[2] Starting in autumn of 1889 Luchian studied for two semesters at the Munich Fine Arts Academy, where he created copies of the works by Correggio and Rembrandt housed in the Kunstareal.

[3] The following year, he left for Paris, where he studied at the Académie Julian, and, although taught by the academic artist William-Adolphe Bouguereau, became acquainted with Impressionist works of art.

[4] Luchian's painting Ultima cursă de toamnă shows the influence of Édouard Manet and Edgar Degas, but also echoes of the Société des Artistes Indépendants, Modernism, and Post-Impressionism (also obvious in works created after his return to Bucharest).

Despite being appreciated by a select few (including the writer Ion Luca Caragiale),[11] Luchian lived in poverty (the large fortune he had inherited was progressively drained).

[18] By the 1930s, Luchian's impact on Romanian art was becoming the subject of disputes in the cultural world, with several critics claiming that his work had been minor and the details of his life exaggerated.

[citation needed] His life was the subject of Nicolae Mărgineanu's 1981 film, Ștefan Luchian [ro],[20] where his character was played by Ion Caramitru (Maria Ploae was Luchian's sister; other actors starring in the film where George Constantin, Ștefan Velniciuc [ro], Florin Călinescu as Arghezi, and Adrian Pintea as Nicolae Tonitza).