Auguste Roubille, 1872-1955

There is little information in the art history books about Auguste Jean-Baptiste Roubille (1872-1955). He was an engraver and a painter (he did café murals), a book illustrator, and a designer of posters and dioramas. Thanks to Stanley Appelbaum’s French Satirical Drawings from ‘L’Assiette Au Beurre’ for this little bit of biography. Beginning in 1897, Roubille worked for many of the Paris humor magazines, such as Le Courrier Français, Le Rire, Le Sourire, Le Cri de Paris, Cocorico, and others. L’Assiette claimed his services for its very first issue in April 4, 1901 and frequently in the years that followed.

Around 1900, he completed a series of 13 lithographic posters for the writer/publisher Antonin Reschal at Librairie Parisienne Arnaud et Cie. They titled the set Le musée de sires, feuille de Caricatures Politiques (Museum of Lords or Rulers, sheets of political caricatures). My colleague Eduardo Tenenbaum offers a reading of the pun they make with the series title Gueulerie contempoiriane (after the series Galerie contemporaine): “gueule” (f.) in French is the muzzle or face of an animal, but in slang it means a person’s face or mouth, and is often used derogatorily. When used as a verb, “gueuler” can mean “to yell” or “to scream.” The phrase “gueulerie contemporaine” suggests to me humans braying like a bunch of animals, or in this case, politicians.

The rulers in this museum are surprisingly international in scope. Here are a few more:

Auguste Roubille (1872-1955), Shah de Perse, ca. 1900. Lithograph. GC103 French Political Caricatures Collection. Shah de Perse, Mozaffer Ed-Dine = Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar (1853-1907) was the fifth Qajarid Shah of Persia, ruling from 1896 to 1907.