Gaston Roullet

Biography of Gaston Roullet ( 1847-1925 )

Born in Ars-en Ré (Charente-Maritime), Gaston Roullet was the pupil of Jules Noël. He married his master’s daughter in 1874 and began on the same year at the Salon of French Artists. There he exhibited two watercolors Dieppe, entrance of the harbour and Rough sea. In 1882, he exhibited The entrance of the harbour in Fecamp, a large oil on canvas. Roullet used with the same ease oil or watercolor, that he treated with a lot of freshness, following his master.   

In 1885, Roullet was named painter of the Navy and Colonies department. He was part of Tonkin military campaigns in 1885 and 1886 with an artistic mission given by State. After he left for Tunisia, New Caledonia, Senegal and Sudan at the end of the 1880’s. He became the correspondent for « Le Monde Illustré », to which he executed many views from Africa, Oceania, Indochina and Canada, as well as Breton and Norman coastal views.

In February 1895, he exhibited in a personal show during the Salon des Cent and was awarded with the Legion of Honor on the same year. Gaston Roullet was a member of the Society of French Artists and also of the Society of French Watercolourists.

He won a silver medal during the 1889’s Universal Exhibition, and once more in 1894 during the Exhibiton in Lyon.