Louis Ollier 

Biography of Louis Ollier  ( 1861-1921 )

Son of Léopold-Auguste Ollier and Valérie Echinard, Louis was the eldest of four siblings. He spent his childhood between Embrun, Saint-Donat and Valence. Little is known about his artistic training before he became a pupil of the history painter Luc Ollivier-Merson.

From the painter's known achievements, it seems that he was active mainly in his native region. These include paintings for Embrun Cathedral, cartoons for frescoes decorating the regional museum founded in Arles by Frédéric Mistral, and designs for stained-glass windows, such as the one depicting Joan of Arc on horseback, created by the Thomas workshops for the Villa Cessieux in Valence.

Louis Ollier was mainly a member of the pompier movement, most often offering a sublimated vision of a marvelous Middle Ages. It was in this style that, in 1898, he created the two paintings framing the main fireplace, "Le Printemps de la vie" and "Cortège nuptial", for the Valence town hall.