BIOGRAPHY - Gaston Marie Anatole Roullet (1847 - 1925)

Gaston Roullet was a French artist specializing mainly in landscapes and marine paintings. He studied under Jules Noël, marrying his daughter in 1874. He was appointed France’s official painter of the Navy and the Colonies, the same post later held by Paul Signac and Henri Lebasque. In this capacity, he accompanied the French military campaigns in Tokin in 1885 and 1886. Between 1889 and 1891, he also travelled to New Caledonia, then on to Tunisia, Sudan, and Senegal. During this time, he sent drawings back to France for publication in newspapers and magazines like Le Monde illustré. In 1895, the Salon des Cent honored him with his own solo exhibition, while later that year he was named a Chevalier of the Legion of Honor.