Offered by Galerie Latham
Pierre Roulot (1917-2007) is an important figure in French post-war ceramics. He first apprenticed as a turner-fitter, then took painting and industrial drawing lessons. A time prisoner in Germany, at the beginning of the 1940s, during his captivity he met a Hungarian ceramist, Sandor Vinclair, thanks to whom he took his first steps in ceramics. On his return to Paris, Roulot attended the Academies of Montparnasse, where he established his living space-studio, rue Campagne-Première, until his death. The “classic” sculptors of the time, Belmondo, Volti and Despiau, encouraged him to exhibit his drawings, paintings and watercolors. He also tried his hand at ceramic sculpture, becoming fascinated by turned forms. His first sandstone sculptures - figures of saints inspired by popular art, in the spirit of those of Paul Beyer - won a prize at the Salon de l'Imagerie in 1944. In 1948, the young artist met Pïcasso in Juan- Pines. The same year, he won the prestigious Blumenthal Prize. In 1949, Pierre Roulot became a ceramics professor at the Ecole des Arts Appliqués in Paris (now the Ecole Duperré) and played the role of benevolent conduit for several generations of young Parisian ceramists. Sponsored in 1947 by Jean Mayodon, he exhibited at the La Crémaillère gallery. In 1951, at the Museum of Decorative Arts, several of his vases were presented in an exhibition that became emblematic of the stylistic renewal of the 1950s, “La Demeure Joyeuse” organized by the textile designer Paule Marrot. The awards came one after the other (notably with a silver medal at the Milan Triennale in 1954). he began to exhibit, from 1957, in Steph Simon's famous gallery, Boulevard Saint-Germain, a true precursor of the diffusion of modern French design (with furniture by Jean Prouvé and Charlotte Perriand, lighting by Serge Mouille and Noguchi, the weavings of Simone Prouvé and the table services of Jean Luce). His ceramics will be presented there permanently, from 1957 to 1974, with other ceramics by Jouve, Norbert Pierlot, and later Robert Deblander. He also exhibits with the sculptor Volti in the gallery of decorator-designer Maxime Old in Paris. Pierre Roulot will participate in all international exhibitions organized by Action Artistique française (Ankara, New York, Montreal, Tokyo, etc.) alongside Georges Jouve, Francine Del Pierre, Guidette Carbonell, among others. This “official” representative of contemporary French ceramics is nevertheless imbued with classicism. On these admirably produced pieces, he developed a graphic repertoire which undoubtedly owes much to that of Jean Mayodon, his elder. Admirer of the old productions of Della Robbia in Florence, he restores this spirit of Italian Renaissance majolica, which happened to be very fashionable in the 40s and 50s in France. If it is "modern", however, it is in the vein of a Dufy or a Matisse, from which his graphic style is inspired, to represent scenes with mythological allusions which are pretexts to breathe a discreet eroticism and a bit of Mediterranean elegy on its volumes of earth. Its range of tin enamels is clear, typical of extremely refined painter’s ceramics. The large vase that I am offering you today for sale is remarkable in more than one way: its date, 1959, corresponds to the height of its media recognition (and contemporary with its entry into the Steph Simon gallery, where he later favored more sober plain shapes, in a more “Japanese” spirit). Painted vases of this size are extremely rare on the market, because we mostly see dishes or cups... For this reason, as well as for the very beautiful evocation of "the Rape of Europe" covering the sides of this vase, we can grant this piece a museum quality, for those who want a fine example of the “pictorial” movement of French artist ceramics, at the heart of the 1950s.
