“Our ancestors went to paint in the field”: Army artists exhibit in Nogent

“Before, if a painter took a cannonball to the forehead and didn’t come back, it wasn’t a big deal,” smiles Nadine Enakieff. Can you imagine today? This is not possible! » She has never set foot in a war zone. Not a soldier. “We don’t fight. » Yet she sketches the life of the military. Those who married the army. Not the others.

For seventeen years, Nadine Enakieff has joined the troops of painters of the Army, of which she has just been appointed president. Twenty-five of them are on display from Friday until Sunday, November 24, at the Carré des Coignards, in Nogent-sur-Marne (Val-de-Marne), to commemorate the Armistice.

“Our ancestors were the painters of battles,” develops the septuagenarian dynamic. They were going to paint on the ground. At the time of Napoleon or Louis XIV, you had to be at the front to freeze all that. » Immortalize History.

“Today, that is no longer possible. Above all, for technical and security reasons. There are some external operations but never on the battlefields. » The artists’ eyes are sharpened by the countless photos, produced mainly by the Army communications service. Inspiration, style and talent do the rest.

“The humanist poilu, which presents the suffering of soldiers”

Nadine Enakieff sculpts the harshness of the moment to shape her subjects with finesse and emotion. “Joan of Arc, Madelon, the saints of the regiments, a figurehead…” and a few rare men. “De Gaulle, but the man of all battles with his gray coat and hat; a priest in the trenches; a legionnaire; a poilu but the humanist poilu, a soldier faithful to his flag, who presents the suffering of soldiers. Half dressed, half skinned with his flag”, supports the one who usually only creates women, “by feeling, by emotion” and “never to order”. This survivor of the First War allowed him to enter the ranks of approved painters, to acquire his rank of captain and to open up a distant universe to him.

“I hesitated quite a bit before accepting,” she remembers, thinking that she wouldn’t be able to do it. “I have no aspirations to be men. I love them but I miss them. I love doing women. »

No claim behind this work, just a question of inspiration. Encouraged by her friend, Jean-Marie Zacchi, who was then president of the army painters, she tried. “I learned rigor, to work on imposed themes, it forced me to do research” to stick to reality. “It changes me. Otherwise, I would have stayed in my routine. »

At 37, she received her first parcel of land

She thus leaves behind some traces of History in bronze, among her gallery works. While at 37, Val-de-Marnaise received for the first time a “package of land” putting an end to years of career in finance. Mother for the fourth time, “I had had social recognition. I wanted to stop but I wanted to do something.”

She enrolls in film school. But it was finally during a dinner that she met a sculptor. “I didn’t know anything about it. » Nadine Enakieff took private lessons for three years. “I was amazed that I had managed to do something with my hands. » An oval in Syporex. “Smooth, without splitting it. » Then “buttocks, a leg”.

His first sculptures hang on shelves in his living room. “It’s like kids when they bring back the ashtray they made at school. I was happy. » His gaze is much more critical today, but full of tenderness. “It no longer has anything to do with it. » Years of experience have refined his style but have not erased his strength and gentleness.

Currently, there are 47 artists serving for the Army, including 8 sculptors, 4 photographers and 1 medalist. “All volunteers and volunteers. We are private professional artists,” specifies the president. Every two years, the National Salon of Army Painters is held at Les Invalides. The next one will take place in September 2025 with the theme: victory.

“Any artist, military or civilian, can apply to exhibit,” explains Nadine Enakieff. If his application is validated, he participates in the event where a jury awards prizes, the first of which is the Minister of Defense prize. The winner is then offered the opportunity to become an Army painter, which depends on the Army heritage delegation. »And bring his sensitivity to pay homage to the life of a soldier.

“The Army Painters”, au Carré des Coignard, 150 Grande-Rue-Charles-de-Gaulle, in Nogent-sur-Marne, from Friday November 8 to Sunday November 24, Tuesday to Sunday from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. Free entry.