Roger-Edgar Gillet

Roger-Edgar Gillet is a remarkable figure from the French expressionist movement in the second half of the 20th century. A graduate of the École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs, Gillet first worked as a decorator before devoting himself to painting. Very early on, he was defended by Michel Tapié and Charles Estienne, and was part of a post-war generation of French painters, that of the Seconde École de Paris, and distinguished himself by a practice ranging from lyrical abstraction to expressionist figuration in the vein of Jean Fautrier, Paul Rebeyrolle and Jean Dubuffet.

Gillet was first exhibited in France by the historic galleries Galerie de France, Claude Bernard, Rodolphe Stadler, Jeanne Bucher; then by the Ariel gallery run by Jean Pollack. He has also worked with Lorenzelli Arte, Italy; Nova Spectra, Amsterdam; Marlborough-Gerson, New York; as well as Stéphane Janssen in Brussels.

His work can be found in major public collections: in the USA, LACMA, Los Angeles, CA USA ; in France, the Musée National d’Art Moderne – Centre Pompidou, the Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, the Centre National des Arts Plastiques (Paris), the Museums of Fine Arts of Lyon, Rennes, Rouen, the Palais des Beaux-Arts de Lille, the Musée de Sens, the Musée Estrine (Saint-Rémy de Provence), the Musée Paul Valéry (Sète), LAAC Musées de Dunkerque ; in Denmark, the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art (Humlebaek); in Norway, the Oslo Museum (Oslo); in Belgium, the Musées royaux des Beaux-Arts (Brussels), the SMAK Musée municipal pour l’art actuel (Ghent), the Fondation du roi Baudouin, Collection Neyrinck (Mons); and in Brazil, the Museu de Arte de Sao Paulo.

An exhibition devoted to Gillet’s work was held at Espace Paul Rebeyrolle, Eymoutiers, France in 2023. Major retrospective exhibitions are planned at the Musée des beaux arts de Rennes in 2025 and at Musée Estrine in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence in 2026.