French 1867-1944
La Promenade is a fine example of the subject matter that Ker Xavier Roussel most often loved to paint; that of mythological creatures such as satyrs, nymphs, centaurs and fauns amidst classical landscapes. The warm color palette as well as the composition of the landscape is comparable to paintings completed circa 1910, such as seen in Scène Bucolique and in examples of his pastels in K. X. Roussel by M.M. Bernheim Jeune, Editeurs d’Art.
Ker Xavier Roussel was a founding member of the Nabis Group in France along with Edouard Vuillard, Bonnard and Maurice Denis. Influenced by the Rococo Revival, Japanese art and the Arts and Crafts Movement in France, these Post-Impressionist avant-garde artists studied at the Académie Julian and developed a style that was characterized by block like flat areas of subdued color juxtaposed with boldly outlined surface patterns, otherwise known as Synthetism. This group had their first exhibition in 1891 at the Barc de Boutteville gallery and participated in the ground breaking shows at Ambrose Vollard in 1898 and Durand-Ruel in 1899.
It is after 1900 that each member of the Nabis group begins to branch out artistically. It is at this time that Ker Xavier Roussel directs his artistic attention to landscapes, decorative compositions with bold coloration and mythological themed paintings. Ker Xavier Roussel strived to “create an environment in which art and daily life were inextricably intertwined.”1 When viewing La Promenade, the figures do seem to have this strong connection to the countryside in which they are situated. When compared to other pastels and drawings that Roussel executed at this time, we can clearly see an affinity for
Collections: Exhibitions:
Art Institute of Chicago Le Barc de Boutteville gallery, 1891
Dallas Museum of Art, Texas Ambrose Vollard, 1898
Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco Durand-Ruel, 1899
Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg, Russia
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Norton Simon Museum, Pasadena, California
Cleveland Museum of Art, Ohio
Currier Gallery of Art, New Hampshire
Harvard University Art Museums, Massachusetts
Los Angeles County Museum
Musées de Lorraine, France
