William L’Engle was born in Jacksonville, Florida, and educated at Yale University in naval architecture. He spent the years 1906-1914 in Paris studying at the prestigious Academie Julien and the Ecole des Beaux Arts. During these years, L’Engle met and married affluent Lucy Steele Brown. The onset of WWI forced a return to the United States, and the L’Engles settled in New York City. They lead a privileged lifestyle, pursuing the arts and summering in Provincetown, Massachusetts.

The L’Engles were active members of the Provincetown Art Association and served on the jury for its “First Modernistic Exhibition” in 1927. William L’Engle exhibited his work in New York City galleries and at the New York World’s Fair Exhibition.

In 1940, the L’Engle family began to winter in Saint Augustine, Florida, where their friend artist Tod Lindenmuth had relocated. William and Lucy L’Engle joined the Arts Club (now known as the Saint Augustine Art Association) and served as promoters of the avant-garde art movement.

The watercolor “The Market Place” represents a square in the center of Saint Augustine, the Plaza de la Constitution, which is the oldest public square in the United States.

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