Claude Le Baube (1919–2007) was a painter and sea captain.
Career
His works consist mostly of landscapes painted on location, of realistic historical naval scenes very precisely detailed and brushed by his ambidextrous hands, and of still-lives blended with eccentric imagery. His oeuvre is a reflection of his knowledge of the maritime world, his numerous travels, his interest in and taste for distinctly drawn landscapes, and a consequence of an overflowing imagination that made him a phenomenal story teller animated by nostalgia—at times even by a certain anguish.
Born into a family of artists (he was the maternal grandson of two recognized painters Hortense Dury-Vasselon Grand Prix de Rome and Marius Vasselon, and the paternal grandson of Victor Le Baube, painter/sculptor), he began to draw at a very early age (his parents Marthe Vasselon and Robert Le Baube were themselves exceptional at drawing). The novels of Jules Verne (and the illustrations contained in the Hetzel book collection) left a profound mark on him in his childhood, and as a result they would be a longstanding source of inspiration. He studied at the Ecole des Beaux Arts.
1945: Watercolor illustrations of Aux Postes de combat by A. Truffert, relating the battles of the French Navy vessels of Free France.
1946: Illustrated the first and second covers of N° 22 of the "Marine Nationale" magazine.
April 1947: Illustrated the first and second covers of N° 30 of the "Marine Nationale mer et outre-mer" magazine.
1978: Illustrated "Rayon vert au Cap Horn" by the solo navigator Loïck Fougeron, published by Pen Duick.
1981–1983: Illustrated '"Histoire de la Marine" published by Lavauzelle.
1982: Text and illustrations of a book on lighthouses (in the account of the sea cruises of the Paquet Cruisers Company).
1983: Illustrated the la cover of "les oubliés du bout du monde" The Journal of a sailor in Indochina from 1939 to 1946, Romé, Maritimes et d'outre-mer publications. Illustration in the magazine “ça m'intéresse,” oil painting related to the loss of the Sheffield.
1984: illustrated the cover of "l'aventure héroïque des sous-marins français 1939-1945" (Heroic ventures of French Submarines) by Jean-Jacques Antier, Maritimes et d'outre-mer publications.
1985: illustrated "L'aigle des mers" (See Adler) by Felix von Luckner, published by Lavauzelle. Illustrated the cover of "Tonnerre sur la Corse" (Thunder on Corsica) by Jean-Victor Angelini, maritime et d'outre-mer publications.
1992: illustrated the cover of ”l'Histoire de la Marine”, tome 2 de la vapeur à l'atome" (from steam to nuclear) by Philippe Masson, Lavauzelle publishers.
2007: illustrated, with a double-paged oil painting, the article "une victoire oubliée, la bataille de Koh Chang" in "champs de bataille thématique" n°1, April 2007.
June 2007: publication of six drawings, paintings, and aquarelles in Carré Voiles n°9, a quarterly magazine dedicated to sailing, to illustrate a biographical article dedicated to him. See: magazine website and the summary of the issue in question.
