From adolescence, Ker-Xavier Roussel was close to Edouard Vuillard, who was to become his brother-in-law, and initially attended the Académie Julian. There he met Bonnard, Maurice Denis, Ranson and Sérusier.
A member of the Nabis, the symbolist group led by Maurice Denis, Ker-Xavier Roussel (1867-1944) was also a disciple of Paul Gauguin's synthetism in the 1890s. A regular contributor to the Revue Blanche, edited by the Natanson brothers, Ker-Xavier Roussel produced an intimate body of work rooted in a free reinterpretation of mythology, born of his discovery of the Arcadian landscapes of the Mediterranean. Like the other members of the Nabi group, he participated in the revival of decorative art.
From 1901, Ker Xavier Roussel exhibited mythological scenes with nymphs and fauns. He discovered the South of France in 1905. His palette became lighter. His brushstrokes were lively and his colours warm. He painted a happy universe detached from reality, animated by a mythology of fantasy, a pantheistic vision of an imaginary world, everyday and chimerical at the same time.

The landscape is composed of simplified, flattened motifs, reminiscent of Puvis de Chavannes and the art of Japanese prints, from which Roussel discreetly borrows. Roussel took on board some of the lessons of Neo-Impressionism. An admirer of Degas, Ker-Xavier Russel was himself a great pastelist, taking great care in the rendering of textures.