Welcome
to the virtual museum
to the virtual museum
This website was created by relatives of Marcel L'Enfant for the sole purpose of sharing his work and documenting his life, 56 years after his death.
On the photograph, you can see the painter on the left, with Germaine Fouchet (born Fortier) and her daughter (the smiling girl who is looking to her left), Monique Fortier, mother and grand-mother of this website's authors.
This virtual museum doesn't have anycommercial goal. It was designed as a mean to share with you the talent of a prolific but discreet painter, and to eventually meet other admirers of his work.
The pieces featured here are not for sale. You can reuse the pictures but non-commercialy, and on condition that you respect his name and signature. A link to this website in the description would also be very welcome!
In the same spirit, if you wish to publish your own pictures on this website, freely and under the same terms of use, you can contact us with a click on one of the following buttons :
We started this virtual museum in may 2019, 56 years after the painter's death. Most of the pieces featured here directly come from our collection, though many people contributed to enrich the content of this website.
Many thanks to all the people who share our interest for Marcel L'Enfant and those who gave us the informations in their possession regarding the artist or who authorized us to publish pictures of the art work they own.
We are also grateful to the website "Le musée virtuel de l'Île de Bréhat" which features some of Marcel L'Enfant works on this Island.
And last but not least, we need to thank Monique Castel, our late mother and grand-mother, without whom this website would have never existed. She was the one who was able to see how talented the painter - also her grand-oncle - was, and who knew how to showcase the paintings she owned. Our admiration for Marcel L'Enfant comes directly from her.
We hope you enjoy the rest of your visit and we encourage you to share the painter's work around if you enjoy it too!
Before you resume your visit, here is a poem inspired of his work and of his choice subject : the ocean.
The ship was leaving her familiar harbor
To search offshore hopes by the thousands,
While the crew watched the families
Whose eyes thought only of the return of the keel,
And the moles and thoughts leaned toward the heavens,
And the ocean made sailors silent,
Paralyzed by old dripping fears
Which precede the furious onslaught of breakers,
Invading the ships making them heavy,
And precipitating the men in the deaf seabed.
Then at the languid pace of a serene sea,
And as freed from an invisible chain,
The men focused on unrolling the nets,
And the reassured painter could, without blinking,
Capture freehand the swing of the sails
Following the vaulted silhouettes on their canvases,
Hands, feet and body playing with gravity
In spite of uncertain jolting convulsions,
Shrinking as the coasts moved away,
And as the trawl was brought with its guests.
And for a short time, the fellows froze,
Turned to the brilliant Sky that directed them,
Thanking him for the rich and precious fishing,
Before pulling the halyards with a rough hand
To fill the boat's headdresses with a breeze
Swollen with the honor of bringing back the burden
And a bald artist with fragile sketches,
Whose seamen finally contemplated the smooth features,
Broken, rough or sharp, where they recognized
Postures and profiles of the work that was born.