Christian Henri Roullier Figurative Paintings

Christian-Henri Roullier was born in Lyon, France, in 1845, and was an infant when his parents arrived in gold-rush San Francisco. After much difficulty, Roullier senior found employment at the White House, a pioneer department store owned by a popular and successful French businessman, Raphael Weill. From then, the Roulliers' life took a prosperous turn. Christian-Henri resided with his family in San Francisco at the beginning of his career. During the Franco-Prussian War he was listed, with other members of the city's French community, as a local subscriber to a French patriotic fund. He subsequently traveled to Paris to study painting with Jean-Leon Gerome the leading teacher of the day. He also studied sculpture with W. E. Fremiet and explored both media throughout his life. A successful artist, Roullier exhibited widely in France. His work was included in most Paris Salon exhibits between 1878 and 1914. He exhibited at the San Francisco Art Association and the Mechanics' Institute of San Francisco in 1883, suggesting that he had returned to San Francisco, perhaps working with Jules Tavernier, whom he depicted in buckskin and knee-high boots in an oil entitled Tavernier Painting. Roullier probably joined the gregarious Tavernier in Monterey as well. Among his portraits, he executed two of Josiah Stanford, now in the collection at the Cantor Center for Visual Arts at Stanford University. When in France, Roullier and his sister Blanche spent half of their time in Paris, the remainder at a beautiful property the family bought in the small town of Saint-Nizier sous Charlieu, some ten miles from Roanne. Blanche became a successful pastellist who also exhibited at the French salons and received several awards. Like his friend and fellow-painter Armand Charnay, Roullier painted rustic, local scenes of his native region, except for a few canvases of Tunisia done in colors reminiscent of his California work. He died in Paris on July 25, 1926. A retrospective exhibit of his work was held at the 1926 Paris Winter...