It was in Paris, where Malbranche’s parents had set up in 1802 to occupy a wigmaker’s shop in the passage des panoramas that their son’s dispositions began to be noticed. From the age of twelve to thirteen, Malbranche showed a passionate taste for drawing: on the flagstones, on the passage walls, he charcoal or penciled, when he had pencil, lines and figures which attested to him a instinctive intelligence of the art he has cultivated ever since. At that time, Prévôt , the painter of panoramas, astonished at the feeling that Malbranche had in seeking to render everything that struck his imagination, took an interest in him, and offered to take him as a pupil. But the artist’s good disposition encountered an obstacle which he should not expect: Father de Malbranche refused the offer outright. According to him, his son should remain a hairdresser, and it took nothing less than a year of his rent back, and the generous offer made by Mr. Terre, owner of the panoramas and the passage, to get him to give up. to give a receipt in exchange for the child. Under these conditions, Malbranche entered the panorama and, although only fourteen and a half years old, guided by Provost, he made rapid progress. The first panorama in which Malbranche cooperated as a painter was that of Wagram. Then came those of Tiltitt,Antwerp, etc.
As Malbranche’s talent developed, his family’s poverty increased, so much so that she soon relied solely on him for a living. It was probably this circumstance which made her refuse the project, which Prévôt had formed, of taking her on his trip to Greece: it was above all this shortage which hampered the young painter’s education; because in the intervals from one panorama to another, although working in the studio of the history painter Bergeret , Malbranche was forced, to satisfy the needs of his parents, to draw samples for the trade, which he gained from 7 to 8 francs per day. In this painful situation, he needed, to sustain his zeal, encouragement, which, moreover, was not lacking: David andVivant Denon , among others, who had guessed his talent, gave him numerous expressions of interest. It was not until 1816 or 1818 that Malbranche was able to leave his samples and resume his painting studies more assiduously. This last year, he exhibited a Marguerite d’Anjou and a Beggar under the portal of Saint-Germain- l’Auxerrois . In 1820, he still exhibited an altar boy serving the altar of the church of Saint-Leu . In 1822, he had his first snow effect, a painting bought by the Duke of Orleans , received in the living room . From that moment he was able to devote himself with activity to the study of the landscape he loved. His first attempts were made in the forest of Fontainebleau.
He made at least one trip a year, which provided him with a large number of sketches and he drew many sites in Rouen , Le Havre , Honfleur , Lisieux , Évreux and Caen . He soon also crossed France in all directions and visited its coasts: his excursions extended to Piedmont and Switzerland ; but a feeling of predilection often brought him back to his native Normandy where he returned in 1821, 1827, 1832 and 1833 and he was in his hometown when he was so eagerly taken away from the arts, his family and his friends.
When he died, Malbranche had not missed any exhibition since 1824, and had always had five to six paintings each. He sold three to the civil list, two effects of snow and a moonlight, a souvenir from Le Havre. At the 1830 exhibition he won the gold medal as a landscaper; in Douai , he received a large silver medal; he was granted two at Valenciennes , but he was dead when the news reached his family. His important paintings are, in addition to those acquired by the King, a view of Dinan ; the Fleury valley ; the retreat from Russia ; heron hunting ; the entrance to a channel ,coasts of Normandy ; the valley of Munster ; a view of Mont-Blanc; a memory of the Alps , Effect of moon and light ; several strikes ; the views of Normandy, Brittany , of Picardy and Vosges.
It is through its snows that Malbranche has acquired the most reputation; Above all, he has the merit of having conquered, as far as was possible, the difficulty and the monotony of the subject. In other parts of the landscape, a few critics have criticized him for being too easy, which must perhaps be attributed to the need he had to sell. Be that as it may, its snows have an incontestable superiority over everything that has been done, of this kind, by French painters, and put it alongside the good Flemish painters.