The port oil on canvas by Maurice Noël (1901-1975)

Maurice Noël (1901-1975) (1901-1975) the port. Oil on original canvas. 81 X 60 cm. Signed at the bottom right Maurice Noël (1901-1975) and signed for elisabeth doddoli on the back. Maurice Noël (1901-1975). An officer of the engineers, he is also an artist and painter, (grand prix of rome and official painter of the armed forces). In 1943, settled in the saint-brieuc region, drawing cardboard under his arm, he goes into the bistros to chew on the charcoal of german soldiers and officers, when one night he is awakened by a german colonel, who asks him to follow him and finds himself in the sa a hotel's dining area. About 100 officers sit around a horseshoe table, with marshal rommel in the centre surrounded by generals and senior officers in great dress. He was then asked to make a portrait of marshal. Two hours later, the portrait executed, maurice noel offers the painting to the marshal with the dedication: "homage to the first soldier of the wehrmacht". Rommel, delighted, asks him what he can do to be pleasant to him. Christmas lets it be known that he only wants one thing, to paint marines, but that this is not possible for lack of ausweis (let go). The next morning, an officer hands him a coastal ausweis signed by rommel. The ausweis has the effect of a magical document. Host of the kommandaturs, invited to share the meals of the gunners in the blockhouses, christmas plants his easel on the coast, where the panorama offers "some interest". Thanks to special pencils, he quickly draws panoramic views of the various military works. After which, quickly, he covers the canvas with a coat of paint and quietly paints his painting. Very friendly, the germans allowed him to dry his paintings in the blockhouses, and took him by truck to the nearest station. In paris, the canvases are unloaded, rolled up and taken care of by liaison officers who send them to london where they are x-rayed and the information exploited. Thus, from 1943 to 1944, he sent plans and documents of prime importance to the allied armies to the central office of action information, until the day, in the metro, a french militiaman scratched one of the paintings and brought out the statements. Arrested by the militia, he was handed over to the gestapo, and was imprisoned in le cherche-midi. He escaped for the first time, and on 13 july 1944, blew up at night, the secret installations of villlacoublay guarded by the germans. Arrested a second time by the gestapo, he was sentenced to death. The day before his execution he was exchanged for a german general taken prisoner at the majestic hotel in paris. Maurice noel was awarded the medal of resistance with the rosette for outstanding war.

Ref. : BTDCSSRE