Ker-Xavier Roussel

Ker -Xavier Roussel ( born December 10, 1867 in Lorry- lès -Metz, † June 5, 1944 in L' Etang -la -Ville, Yvelines ) was a French painter who belonged to the group of artists Nabis.

Life and work

Roussel was born into a wealthy Parisian family doctor. In the Lycee Condorcet, he met his classmate Édouard Vuillard, Maurice Denis and Lugné - Poe, with whom he entertained a lifelong friendship. At 20 he entered the studio of Léon Diogène Maillard.

Roussel, Vuillard and Denis continued their studies from 1888 to 1890 at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris continued where they met Pierre Bonnard. Roussel and Vuillard joined in 1889 by the artist group Les Nabis at. Two years later, Roussel with the Nabis out for the first time in the Gallery of Le Barc de Boutteville.

1893 married Marie Roussel, Vuillard. Their daughter Annete later became the wife of the painter Jacques Salomon ( 1885-1965 ). Roussel's first lithographs published in the journal " La Revue Blanche ". In 1899 he left Paris and settled in L' Etang -la -Ville. In the same year he toured with Édouard Vuillard and Pierre Bonnard Italy; together they drove to Lake Como, Venice and Milan. 1906 took Roussel along with Maurice Denis a trip to the Mediterranean coast. In Aix -en- Provence visited the two friends Paul Cézanne, in Saint- Tropez Paul Signac.

1908, the Académie Ranson was founded, taught at the Roussel, Vuillard, Paul Sérusier, Aristide Maillol and Félix Vallotton as professors. 1911-1913 Roussel dealt with the decoration of the Théâtre des Champs- Élysées and designed the curtain. During World War II he lived in Switzerland. In the stairwell of the Kunstmuseum of Winterthur, he pointed out decorations, however, remained unfinished.

1926 Roussel was awarded the Carnegie Prize, awarded by the Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh, USA. 1937 Roussel worked with Vuillard and Bonnard for the Théâtre National de Chaillot in Paris. In 1938 he designed a decoration for the Palais des Nations in Geneva.