Hst Maurice Ménardeau - Navy

Maurice Ménardeau, is a French painter, born February 6, 1897 in Limoges and died April 11, 1977 in Curepipe (Mauritius). He took his first drawing and painting lessons in Paris in 1906. There he prepared for the entrance examination to the Beaux-Arts, but the declaration of the First World War prevented him from doing so. He joined the Navy as a wireless operator. On September 21, 1917, a crew member of the cargo ship Kuang-Si of the Messageries Maritimes, the latter received a German torpedo off Cape Lizzard which injured no one on board. The boat is towed to Great Britain. It was during this forced stage that Ménardeau discovered little masters of painting at the Cardiff Museum. This will be the trigger for his vocation as a painter. He embarked as a radio operator on the ships of Compagnie Générale Transatlantique until 1921, when he devoted himself entirely to painting. In 1922 he frequented the studio of Charles Fouqueray, a painter attached to the Ministry of Marine and Air. In 1924 he made Concarneau his home port. In 1925 until 1931 he exhibited at the Salon des Artistes Français and became a member. Between 1932 and 1933, he made a stay in the Indian Ocean. In 1934 and 1935, he discovered Reunion Island. In 1936, he was appointed painter to the Navy. In 1937 and 1938, he traveled to Indochina. The Navy entrusted him with missions in South Africa (1940-1941), Uruguay (1942), Brazil and Argentina (1943) and Chile (1944). He returned to Argentina in 1946, 1949, 1954 and 1956. After 2 other campaigns on board ships of the Navy, he stopped sailing in 1963 and made longer stays in Concarneau and criss-crossed France. In 1977, ill, feeling his death near, he decided to go to Curepipe where he died. He was a friend of Delpy, of Barnoin. Ménardeau is part of the group of painters from Concarneau. Our canvas represents a view of the port of Concarneau. Several boats being at work, others at anchor. The cloud-laden sky is omnipresent and sublimates the scene, a clearing illuminating the city in the distance. Signed lower right preceded by the anchor. Canvas in very good condition. Dimensions: 38 x 46 cm (52.5 x 60.5 cm with the frame) Sources: Official painters of the Navy and Benezit