Roger Edgar Gillet – Biographical landmarks

1924  Roger Gillet is born in Paris on 10 July.

1944  After graduating from the École Boulle, he briefly attends the École nationale supérieure des Arts décoratifs.

1950  He marries Thérèse Laisné, whom he met at the Académie Julian.

1952  Michel Tapié notices Gillet and includes him in the landmark exhibitions he organises in Parisian galleries.

1953  First solo exhibition at the Galerie Craven in Paris, noted by the critic Charles Estienne.

1955  Winner of the Catherwood Prize, Gillet travels to the United States for two months. In the great museums, the gaze of certain portraits, by El Greco as much as by Cézanne, leads him to question abstraction.

1956  Jean Pollak’s Galerie Ariel exhibits Gillet and will continue to do so for nearly fifty years, in France and internationally. This marks the beginning of a long friendship with the dealer and the artists he supports.

1957  Gillet is also supported by the Galerie de France, which exhibits established abstract painters as well as a number of young artists, including Alechinsky and Maryan. He joins the committee of the Salon de Mai, and two of his paintings enter French museum collections.

1961  Second journey to the United States for his exhibition at the John Lefebre Gallery in New York. On his return, he produces ink portraits on paper.

1964  The move towards figuration, pursued since the painting Saint Thomas of 1958, is confirmed. Gillet leaves the Galerie de France and Paris for the Saint-Malo region.

1967  Salon de Mai in Cuba. Gillet takes part in the creation of a collective mural with ninety-eight other artists, including Arroyo, Bitran, Rebeyrolle, Messagier and Monory.

1971  He exhibits alongside Eugène Dodeigne at the Musée Galliera in Paris. The family lives for ten years near Sens, their home open to friends. In his studio, Gillet “tyrannises the portrait” and conveys his vision of cities and society.

1987  Retrospective at the CNAP, curated by Anne Tronche.

1989  To mark the bicentenary of the Revolution, Gillet produces a series of large-format works entitled La Marche des oubliés, exhibited in Saint-Priest and then at FIAC, before being shown in the United States.

1991  He lives in Saint-Suliac. The vision of the coastline and the banks of the Rance inspires the Tempêtes series, presented at FIAC in 1994.

1996  He works, on paper or canvas, on a series entitled Apôtre, sometimes Philosopher.

1998  Stricken by near-blindness, he ceases to paint.

1999  Retrospective 50 Years of Painting, Musée de Sens.

2004  Gillet dies in Saint-Suliac on 2 October.