AlainRolland

Self-taught painter, Alain Rolland was born in 1947 in Bourgoin-Jallieu (Isère, France) where his first exhibits were launched at the Salon des Amis des Arts.  Working independently since 1977, Rolland settled in Lyon where he designed art for advertising agencies, which were numerous at the time. Through an intermediary in Paris, he specialised in illustrat Click for printable version login/logout/editions of animals, often for commercial packaging. He illustrated all the flora and fauna pages of the famous French dictionary Larousse. He learned to paint ‘’in the style of” on canvasses he worked on for a publicity campaign for Swiss cheeses; all the while painting portraits for clients in his free time. In 1990 Rolland heeded the call of Mather Nature and moved into a chalet nestled in an alpine pasture of the Haute Savoie. There he specialised in panoramic mountain landscape paintings, which became trail guides for regional ski resorts: La Clusaz, Grand Bornand, Praz de Lys Sommand, Le Semnoz, Lac de Bourget, Les Orres, Orcières Merlette, Gerardmer, and ten ski resorts in the Ariège Pyrénées.   During this time, and in collaboration with three other artists, he established an annual exhibition called Les Pictoriales de Thônes (Thônes Pictorials), which continued for over 15 years. When he returned to a more civilised life, it was to the shores of Lake Annecy. Once again drawn to oil painting, which allowed him to apply all the techniques and experiences he had accumulated over the years, he found his freedom in front of the canvas. His methodology is to capture the light in intimate compositions. He is lately inclined to include elements of contemporary and abstract art into his Hopper-inspired repertoire. Alain Rolland currently lives in the South of France, in the small village of Plan de la Tour, Department of Var, where the soft light purifies all objects upon which it falls. We are excited to see where this new direction will lead him!