The meeting between Edouard Vuillard and Ker-Xavier Roussel took place long before the birth of the Nabi movement. In fact, they became friends at the Lycée Condorcet, where Maurice Denis was also a student.
Ker-Xavier Roussel was introduced to the world of art at a relatively young age. He tried his hand at a number of techniques and evolved through his encounters. He joined the Nabi movement around 1890.
At the same time, Vuillard was experimenting with the codes of caricature. He initially rejected the Nabi movement, before coming to join his friend Roussel in it some time later.
However, the closeness between the two artists was not only reflected in the artistic sphere. Indeed, Roussel married Vuillard’s sister Marie in 1893. They would give birth to two children: Jacques and Annette. In 1899, the Roussel family settled in L’Étang-la-Ville, in a rented house called Les Charmettes. This was located in the heart of the hamlet of La Montagne.
Then they went on to build a new house, housing a large workshop, which they christened La Jacanette. This name is a contraction of the first names of their two children.
In 1940, at the age of 77, Edouard Vuillard died in his house in La Baule. Following this tragic event, Roussel offered Vuillard’s works to the French state. Ker-Xavier Roussel died a few years later in his house at La Jacanette. He is buried in the old cemetery at L’Étang-la-Ville.
