Luc-Marie Bayle
Luc-Marie Bayle (30 January 1914, Malo-les-Bains – 11 October 2000, Paris) was a French naval officer, painter, and artist.
Bayle began his military career in 1932 when he entered the École Navale. After he was promoted he sailed on various ships and conducted campaigns to China and Africa. After attending further marine school training in Lorient, Bayle Navy Information Service Press in Paris, he completed two missions to the Adélie Land on the Commandant Charcot in 1948 and 1949 for which he became the on board photographer, historian, and official painter. He commanded the French Navy in Polynesia from 1956 to 1958. In 1975 he was elected to the Académie de Marine.
In 1954 Bayle created a large model aircraft carrier on the Seine in order to demonstrate the complexity of the equipment and electronics involved. He was the director of the Musée national de la Marine from 1972 to 1980 and create the concept of a "port-museum", especially in Port-Louis, near Lorient. He was particularly interested in historic ships such as the Duchesse Élisabeth, a three-masted war damaged ship which was brought back to Brest in 1946 and renamed the Duchesse Anne. After serving in the Navy, this ship sank into neglect. After a first restoration project funded by the Port-Louis museum, in February 1979 Bayle launched a new call for the rescue of the Duchess Anne, deeming her condition to be critical. It was ultimately Dunkirk that restored the ship in 1980/81, where it remains on display.
Luc-Marie Bayle drew and painted, mostly in watercolors, beginning with his first expedition to China where he developed his talent in this discipline. Other locations included in this collection are Tahiti, Moorea, Bora Bora and Mangareva, as well as the less frequented Île Saint-Paul, Macquarie Island, Kerguelen Islands, and the Balleny Islands. His works are complemented by rag sewn tapestries, posters, and advertisements. He also illustrated many books.
He was appointed Peintre de la Marine in 1944. After the war ended he was received an order for a tapestry bar officers of the Rue Royale. Due to his lack of funds, the Naval police provided him with a bundle of rags a team of seamstresses to perform the work. In the 1948 mission to the Terre Adélie, Commander Max Jacques Henri Douguet accepted Bayle on board with the prevision that he learn how to use a film camera. During the three months of travel, Bayle composed a tapestry commemorating the arrival of Jules Dumont d'Urville in 1840. In addition to writing a diary covering the first two Terre Adélie expeditions, Bayle wrote Le Voyage de la Nouvelle Incomprise recounting the same events. From 1960 to 1972, with Hervé Baille Bayle, he created a publishing company (B & B). After designing the logo for the legendary ship Calypso, he conceived and designed the crystal sword used for Jacques Cousteau official Académie française reception in 1989.
Illustrated books
- Marcelle Vioux, Jeanne d'Arc, 1942
- Jean Variot, Les Coursiers de Sainte-Hélène, 1944
- Pierre Dubard, Le Charcot et La Terre Adélie, France Empire, 1951
- Jacques Mordal, La Marine en bois, Paris, Fayard, 1975
Awards
- Officier de la Légion d'honneur
- Officier du Ordre du Mérite Maritime
- Officier des Ordre des Palmes Académiques
Bibliography
- Luc-Marie Bayle, Chemin de Croix, Paris : ed. Lahure, 1943
- Luc-Marie Bayle, in collaboration with Pierre Dubard, Le Charcot et la Terre Adélie, Paris : France-Empire, 1951
- Luc-Marie Bayle, Le Voyage de la Nouvelle-Incomprise, Paris : ed. Ozanne, 1953
- Luc-Marie Bayle, Les corvettes FNFL, Paris : Service historique de la marine, 1966
- Luc-Marie Bayle, in collaboration with Hervé Cras, La Marine en bois, Paris : Fayard, 1978
- Luc-Marie Bayle, Mathurin Méheut, Rennes : Éd. Ouest-France, 1984
Audiovisual
Bayle directed and edited a 25 minute film depicting the 1948 and 1949 Adélie Land missions. The film is held at ECPAD.
Sources
- Gwen Douguet, Cap sur la Terre Adélie, premières expéditions polaires françaises (1948-1951) , Brest, éditions le Télégramme, 2007, (ISBN 2848331768)