Marie-Thérèse Dethan-Roullet

Marie-Thérèse Dethan-Roullet, born Marie-Thérèse Virginie Pauline Roullet on 24 February 1870 in Ars-en-Ré and died on 22 October 1945 in the 17th arrondissement of Paris, was a French watercolourist and painter who specialised in floral motifs.

She was the niece of Gaston Roullet, official painter of the French navy, and the second cousin of the painter Jules Noël.

Biography Marie-Thérèse Virginie Pauline Roullet was born in Ars-en-Ré (Charente-Maritime) in 1870, the daughter of Marie-Thérèse Dexam (1848–1917) and Ernest Émile Roullet (1842–1919), a merchant. Her family was well-off. and participated in the salons of the Union des Femmes Peintres et Sculpteurs from 1901 to 1939 and those of the Société des artistes français in 1903 and 1936. She exhibited from 1901 to 1939.

In 1914, she was appointed Officier d'Académie.

In the 1920s and 1930s, she travelled extensively in France, but also in Italy, Sicily and Belgium (Bruges). She brought back numerous watercolours and drawings. Her favourite subjects were still lifes, landscapes and flower arrangements. Despite her many travels, she always retained a special affection for her native region and for Normandy, particularly Honfleur.

She died in Paris in 1945, in the 17th arrondissement, seventeen days after her husband. She was buried in the Père-Lachaise Cemetery.

De griffie te Brugge (ca. 1870 until 1945), Marie-Thérèse Dethan Roullet, collection Musea Brugge In 2000, a major retrospective exhibition was dedicated to her in Brescia, Italy. Murillo Azzini said of her: "In the tradition of late Impressionism, she also paints still lifes and especially flowers with a sense of the beating of the heart, of colour in light. The attention to the passing of time, to the light that fades and changes the matter of things, the tender melancholy".

Numerous auctions of her watercolours and drawings were organised: in Lyon in 1989 (Anaf), at Drouot Paris in 1990 (Tajan), in Versailles in 1990 and 1992 (Machoir & Bailly), in Valence in 2007 (auction house), with the price of her watercolours ranging from €1,000 to over €2,000. The work De griffie te Brugge is part of the collection of Musea Brugge.

Exhibitions 1901 until 1939: Salon de l'Union des Femmes Peintres et Sculpteurs. 1902 until 1907: Galerie Georges Petit, exhibition by female artists. 1935: Rétrospective spéciale de 1935 de L'Union des Femmes Peintres et Sculpteurs. 1939: Silver medal from the Salon de la Société des artistes français.

Publications 1933: Impressions de Sienne, 29 charcoal drawings. 1935: Impressions d'Honfleur, collection of 21 original drawings, in-8°, Paris, Librairie Guerlet, text by Georges Auguste Dethan.