In 1896 Cucuel went back to the USA but he soon returned to Paris to devote his life to painting. After two years in the city, he travelled through Europe to study the old masters. In Berlin he worked again as an illustrator and in 1907 he moved to Munich. He joined the artists’ group ‘Scholle’, which was dominated by the leading artist Leo Putz and took part in the exhibitions of the ‘Secession’ in Munich. In 1912 Cucuel successfully exhibited some of his works in Paris and in 1913 he became a member of the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts and of the Salon d’Automne. In 1915 his paintings were exhibited at the Expo in San Francisco.

The outbreak of World War II forced him to leave Germany to return to the USA. Cucuel settled in Pasadena, California, where he remained until his death in 1954.

His work is represented at the Carnegie Institute in Pittsburg; the Art Institute, Chicago; the Detroit Museum of Arts; the Toledo Museum; Rochester Museum in Toronto; the National Academy, New York; and many other important collections.