Noël Desenfans

Noël Desenfans (December 1741 – 8 July 1807) was a French-born art dealer mainly active in Britain, most notable for laying the foundation for the Dulwich Picture Gallery in London alongside the landscape painter Francis Bourgeois.

[1] Born in Avesnes-sur-Helpe and studying in Douai and Paris, he initially aimed to become a playwright but in 1769 instead settled in London to become a language teacher.

[2] That wealth allowed him to enter the art trade, a sphere first suggested to him by his buying a Claude and selling it on to George III,[2] though he always presented himself more as an art lover than a determined dealer, decorating his home with a wide selection of paintings and keeping in touch with the literary and artistic scene.

Desenfans offered them as a British national gallery in 1799, publishing "A Plan, preceded by a Short Review of the Fine Arts" in support of this proposal, but was turned down.

[2] Attempts to sell the collection to the Tsar of Russia failed and an 1802 auction proved unprofitable,[1] though for that sale he did produce a two-volume "Descriptive Catalogue" of the works.