Lucie Brû was born in Paris on 19 December 1876. Her father was Léon Casimir Brû, the wealthy owner of a Parisian doll factory. She became interested in painting at the age of fourteen, and studied under Paul Signac and Henri-Edmond Cross. She was also a close friend of the pointillist Georges Seurat. She studied the work of these painters and painted in a similar style to them. On 6 January 1901 she married the painter and art critic Edmond Cousturier, taking her husband's name. Her husband's brother was Paul Cousturier, a member of the colonial administration in Africa.

Lucie Cousturier first exhibited at the Salon des Artistes Indépendants in 1901, and was to exhibit three to eight oils there every year until 1920. She exhibited at other exhibitions in Brussels and Berlin, and at the end of 1906 gave her first solo exhibition in Paris. By 1907 she had a perfect mastery of technique and color. In her later paintings, particularly outdoors scenes, her style became increasingly fluid and free, with warm and lively colors. She exhibited with Signac regularly and had a two man show at the Galerie de Bruxelles with Signac in Brussels in 1923. Lucie also had an important writing career by writing articles and monographs about the major members of the emerging Neo-Impressionist movement. She is credited for being the first specialist writer of the movement.

During World War I Lucie Cousturier lived in a house in Fréjus purchased in 1913, "Les Parasols", beside which there were camps where Senegalese riflemen staying before going up to the front. She visited the camps and decided to improve the soldiers' learning of the French language. For this purpose she organized literacy classes at home, and this would be the theme of a story on Des Inconnus chez moi (Some Strangers in my Home) that she published in 1920. The La Poursuite company adapted this work to the stage in 2014 to commemorate the centenary of the War.

Museum and Gallery Holdings

Paris - Museum of Modern Art

Indianapolis - Museum of Fine Art

Paris - Musee D'Orsay

New York - Museum of Modern Art