Raymond Enard (1902-1982). Watercolor. Saint Nicolas Tower. La Rochelle. 1956

Raymond Enard (1902-1982). La Rochelle. 1956
Watercolor on paper representing Tour Saint Nicolas.
Handwritten signature dated lower left. "R.Enard. La Rochelle.1956"
Framed work.
Dimensions with frame: Height: 43 cm. Width: 35cm.
Dimensions without card: Height: 31 cm. Width: 23cm.
Period: 1956
Condition: A framed view Very good condition
Museum: Ernest Cognacq Museum, Ile de Ré. Charente Maritime
Bibliography: France Archive Baudry-Enard Fund (1889-1983)
Biography: France archives Baudry-Enard Fund (1889-1983)

"Family archives of Jean-Baptiste Baudry: private correspondence (including a file relating to the Second World War) , archives relating to his professional activities as clerk of the justice of the peace of Ars-en-Ré, insurer at the Compagnie du Soleil, notary clerk and invoices relating to the haberdashery activity of his wife Marie-Louise Enard (20th century). - documentation, newspapers (20th century). Enard Raymond Raymond Enard was born on September 12, 1902 in Letricourt in Meurthe et Moselle. The family only stayed there for a few years, in 1906 for professional reasons, the family Enard moved to a town on the island of Ré, Ars-en-Ré. A brilliant student, he successively studied at the municipal school in Saint-Martin-de-Ré, then in La Rochelle and finally at the teacher training college of La Rochelle from 1919 to 1922. There, his artistic talents were particularly noticed and the director at the time encouraged him to continue in this direction. Thanks to a scholarship, he went to study drawing in Paris at the National School of Decorative Arts where he was a pupil of Paul Renouard, draftsman, painter and engraver and of L. Roger. He obtained the 1st drawing medal and the 1st sketching medal. He then went to the National School of Fine Arts. At the end of his studies, he was appointed drawing teacher at the Laon high school in 1927 and a few years later became curator of the museum of this city. He was promoted to Knight of the Academic Palms in 1938. During these years, he exhibited regularly at the Salon des artistes français until the Second World War. He was a reserve captain in the 402nd Pioneer Regiment when in April 1940, during a military operation, he was wounded and taken prisoner. His status as an officer in the French army allowed him to be imprisoned in Oflag XB from 1940 to 1945. During his captivity, he never stopped painting, teaching and drawing the life of every day of this prison camp. Witness and direct actor of his events he leaves many sketches and sketches on tracing paper from this period of captivity. In 1947, the work entitled A l'ombre des miradors, scenes de captivity de l'Oflag XB was published, which Raymond Enard illustrated with 22 woodcuts representing daily life in this camp. At the Liberation, he left to practice at the Condorcet high school in Paris and in 1946, he became a professor in the landscape and garden art section of the National School of Horticulture in Versailles. In 1948, he was appointed president of the Society of Second Degree Drawing Teachers and a member of the joint commissions of the Ministry of National Education. In 1949, he was a professor at the Center for Preparation for Professorial Drawing, then its director in 1961. In 1950, he was made Officer of the Academic Palms, then in 1956, Knight of the Legion of Honor and Agricultural Merit. He retired to Menton for his retirement before coming to settle in Ars-en-Ré in 1971 after the death of his wife. He died on April 21, 1982. A protean artist, he worked in painting, watercolour, wood engraving (with which he illustrated two of his books). The one entitled Laon, city of art and history won the silver medal at the international exhibition in Paris in 1937. He also created fabric collages which he himself described as "chiffoneries". He is also an art critic for the weekly La vie du rail. Complete artist, and is in turn singer, humorist and actor. Passionate, he is known as an excellent teacher, appreciated by all these students to whom he knew how to instil his passion, his taste for creativity and the beauty of his art. Raymond Enard donated part of his works to the Cognacq-Geay museum in Saint-Martin-de-Ré and to the town of Ars-en-Ré. As for his sketches made during his captivity at the Oflag XB, they were dispersed during the auction of the artist's studio fund in La Rochelle on Saturday April 18, 2009 (lots 92 to 94 of the catalog )."