Eugène Anatole Carrière (; 16 January 1849 – 27 March 1906) was a French

Symbolist Symbolism or symbolist may refer to: *Symbol, any object or sign that represents an idea Arts *Artistic symbol, an element of a literary, visual, or other work of art that represents an idea ** Color symbolism, the use of colors within various c ...

artist of the fin-de-siècle period. Carrière's paintings are best known for their near-monochrome brown palette and their ethereal, dreamlike quality. He was a close friend of

Auguste Rodin François Auguste René Rodin (; ; 12 November 184017 November 1917) was a French sculptor generally considered the founder of modern sculpture. He was schooled traditionally and took a craftsman-like approach to his work. Rodin possessed a u ...

and his work likely influenced

Pablo Picasso Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, Ceramic art, ceramicist, and Scenic ...

's Blue Period. He was also associated with such writers as

Paul Verlaine Paul-Marie Verlaine ( ; ; 30 March 1844 – 8 January 1896) was a French poet associated with the Symbolism (movement), Symbolist movement and the Decadent movement. He is considered one of the greatest representatives of the ''fin de siècle'' ...

Stéphane Mallarmé Stéphane Mallarmé ( , ; ; 18 March 1842 – 9 September 1898), pen name of Étienne Mallarmé, was a French poet and critic. He was a major French Symbolist poet, and his work anticipated and inspired several revolutionary artistic schools o ...

and Charles Morice.

Biography

The eighth of nine children of an insurance salesman, Carrière was born at Gournay-sur-Marne (

Seine-Saint-Denis () is a department of France located in the Grand Paris metropolis in the region. In French, it is often referred to colloquially as ' or ' ("ninety-three" or "nine three"), after its official administrative number, 93. Its prefecture is Bobi ...

) and brought up in

Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

, where he received his initial training in art at the Ecole Municipale de Dessin as part of his apprenticeship in commercial

lithography Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the miscibility, immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by ...

. In 1868, while briefly employed as a lithographer, he visited Paris and was so inspired by the paintings of

Peter Paul Rubens Sir Peter Paul Rubens ( ; ; 28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish painting, Flemish artist and diplomat. He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque painting, Flemish Baroque tradition. Rubens' highly charged comp ...

in the

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is a national art museum in Paris, France, and one of the most famous museums in the world. It is located on the Rive Droite, Right Bank of the Seine in the city's 1st arrondissement of Paris, 1st arron ...

that he resolved to become an artist. His studies under

Alexandre Cabanel Alexandre Cabanel (; 28 September 1823 – 23 January 1889) was a French Painting, painter. He painted historical, classical and religious subjects in the Academic art, academic style. He was also well known as a portrait painter. He was Napoleon ...

at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts were interrupted by the Franco–Prussian War, during which he was taken prisoner. In 1872–73 he worked in the studio of

Jules Chéret Jules Chéret (31 May 1836 – 23 September 1932) was a French painter and lithographer who became a master of ''Belle Époque'' poster art. He has been called the father of the modern poster. Early life and career Born in Paris to a poor bu ...

. In 1878 he participated in the

Salon Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon A beauty salon or beauty parlor is an establishment that provides Cosmetics, cosmetic treatments for people. Other variations of this type of business include hair salons, spas, day spas, ...

for the first time, but his work went unnoticed. The following year he ended his studies under Cabanel, married Sophie Desmonceaux (with whom he would have seven children) and moved briefly to London where he saw and admired the works of J.M.W. Turner. Success eluded him for a number of years after he returned to Paris and he was forced to find occasional employment, usually with printers to support his growing family. Between 1880 and 1885 his brother Ernest (1858–1908), a ceramicist, arranged part-time work for him at the Sèvres porcelain factory. There he met

who became and remained a very close friend. At the Salon of 1884 one of Carrière’s paintings received an honourable mention, and the influential art critic Roger Marx became a champion of his work. Thereafter, Carrière found friends in most of the important artists, critics, writers and collectors of his time. He was a founding member of the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts and of the Salon d’Automne (of which he was named honorary president). He played an influential role as an art teacher at Académie de La Palette. One of his students was Charles Edmond Kayser. He exhibited with the Libre Esthétique in Brussels (in 1894, 1896 and 1899), the

Munich Secession The Munich Secession (German language, German Münchener Secession) was an association of visual artists who broke away from the mainstream Munich Artists' Association in 1892, to promote and defend their art in the face of what they considered ...

(in 1896, 1899, 1905 and 1906) and the Berlin Secession in 1904, with works including ''Sleep'' (1890), the celebrated portrait of

(1891, Luxembourg), ''Maternity'' (1892, Luxembourg), ''Christ on the Cross'' (1897), and ''Madame Menard-Dorian'' (1906). Carrière died from throat cancer in 1906. The cultural world of Paris, from

Georges Clemenceau Georges Benjamin Clemenceau (28 September 1841 – 24 November 1929) was a French statesman who was Prime Minister of France from 1906 to 1909 and again from 1917 until 1920. A physician turned journalist, he played a central role in the poli ...

to young artists such as

Francis Picabia Francis Picabia (: born Francis-Marie Martinez de Picabia; 22January 1879 – 30November 1953) was a French avant-garde painter, writer, filmmaker, magazine publisher, poet, and typography, typographist closely associated with Dada. When consid ...

, was present at his funeral, where Rodin spoke of his "arresting ideas, expressed urgently and with a new clarity, undimmed by his suffering". Carrière's last words, recorded by his children, were: "Aimez-vous avec frénésie." ("Love each other wildly.") The Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts and the Salon d’Automne in 1906, as well as the Ecole Nationale des Beaux-Arts and the Libre Esthétique in 1907, held major retrospective exhibitions of Carrière's work.

Style and influence

Carrière had great admiration for many of the Old Masters, but in his early work he was mainly influenced by his contemporary

Jean-Jacques Henner Jean-Jacques Henner (5 March 1829 – 23 July 1905) was a French painter, noted for his use of sfumato and chiaroscuro in painting nudes, religious subjects and portraits. Biography Henner was born at Bernwiller (Alsace). He began his stud ...

. He increasingly used a near monochrome brown palette with occasional touches of other colours and a painterly technique somewhat like that of Henner, and by the mid-1880s his work was characterized by a dense, misty brown atmosphere out of which the images emerged. ''The Sick Child'' (1885; Paris, Mus. d’Orsay) is an example of the theme of a mother and her child that Carrière often used and that has come to be regarded as typifying his work. Carrière occupies an important place in fin-de-siècle Symbolism, which developed in the visual arts from the mid-1880s. The quality of poetic, dreamlike reverie that pervades his work particularly appealed to Symbolist critics such as Charles Morice and Jean Dolent; the latter described Carrière’s art as reality having the magic of dreams. Carrière also frequented the Café Voltaire and was involved in Symbolist theatre, bringing him into the mainstream of Symbolism. By employing a subdued palette, softening the focus and enveloping his figures in a thick, dark atmosphere, as in ''Maternity'' (c. 1889; Philadelphia, PA, Mus. A.), Carrière achieved a rarified sense of space, light and colour. His ethereal images have a quality of pervasive stillness. Carrière’s strong belief in the essential brotherhood of Man led him to consider his family as a microcosm of mankind. Though most of his paintings are of family members or family relationships, his interest in the universal rather than the specific usually resulted in figures without much individuality presented in a formless environment. He also produced a number of portraits, with notable examples being that of the poet

(1890; Paris, Mus. d’Orsay) and the sculptor Louis-Henri Devillez (1887).Louis-Henri Devillez in his Studio, by Eugène Carrière, 1887, tumblr.com
/ref> Several of his works can be found at the

Musée d'Orsay The Musée d'Orsay ( , , ) () is a museum in Paris, France, on the Rive Gauche, Left Bank of the Seine. It is housed in the former Gare d'Orsay, a Beaux-Arts architecture, Beaux-Arts railway station built from 1898 to 1900. The museum holds mai ...

and the

Musée Rodin The Musée Rodin () of Paris, France, is an art museum that was opened in 1919, primarily dedicated to the works of the French sculptor Auguste Rodin. It has two sites: the Hôtel Biron and surrounding grounds in central Paris, as well as just ...

in Paris, the

Tate Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the UK ...

in London and the National Museum of Serbia in

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

Selected paintings

File:Eugène Carrière Priam.jpg, ''Priam at the Feet of Achilles'' (1876), oil on canvas, dimensions unknown, Musée des Beaux-Arts de Pau File:Eugène Carrière (1849-1906) - Winding Wool (Les Dévideuses) - L692 - National Gallery.jpg, ''Winding Wool'' (1887), oil on canvas, 99.5 x 87.6 cm., National Gallery, London File:Eugène Carrière Femme de dos se déshabillant.jpg, ''Woman from Behind Undressing'' (c. 1890–95), oil on canvas 46.5 x 38.5 cm., collection unknown File:Eugène Carrière, The Theater of Belleville (1895), oil on canvas, 220 x 490 cm., Musée Rodin, Paris.jpg, ''The Theater of Belleville'' (1895), oil on canvas, 220 x 490 cm., Musée Rodin, Paris File:Eugène Carrière, Vierge au pied de la Croix.jpg, ''Virgin at the Foot of the Cross'' (1897), oil on canvas, Strasbourg Museum of Modern Art File:Her-mothers-kiss-eugene-carriere.jpg, ''Le Réveil, Her Mother's Kiss'' (1899), oil on canvas, 94 x 120 cm., Pushkin Museum, Moscow File:EugeneCarriere3.jpg, ''The Mothers'' (1900). oil on canvas, 283.2 x 362.7 cm., Musée du Petit Palais, Paris File:Eugène Carrière - The Contemplator - 1946.283 - Cleveland Museum of Art.tiff, ''The Contemplator'' (1901), oil on canvas, 33.6 x 41 cm., Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio File:Eugène Carrière - Landscape in the Orne - 67.025 - Rhode Island School of Design Museum.jpg, ''Landscape in the Orne'' (c. 1901), oil on prepared paper mounted on canvas, 32.7 x 41.3 cm., Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence Portraits and figures File:Eugène Carrière - Portrait of a Boy - 1956.341 - Art Institute of Chicago.jpg, ''Portrait of a Boy'' (1886), oil on canvas, cm., Art Institute of Chicago File:Eugène Carrière, Paul Verlaine (1890), oil on canvas, 149.8x 121.9 cm., Musée du Louvre, Paris.jpg, ''Paul Verlaine'' (1890), oil on canvas, 149.8x 121.9 cm., Musée du Louvre, Paris File:Eugène Carrière - Portrait of Paul Gauguin - 1957.5.1 - Yale University Art Gallery.jpg, ''Portrait of Paul Gauguin'' (1891), oil on canvas, Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven File:Woman Leaning on a Table, by Eugene Carriere.jpg, ''Woman Leaning on a Table'' (1893), oil on canvas, 65 x 54.3 cm., The Hermitage, Saint Petersburg File:Femme regardant - Eugène Carrière.jpg, ''Woman Looking'' (date unknown), oil on canvas, 81 x 65,3 cm., Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Buenos Aires File:Eugène Carrière - Two Women - 73.40 - Minneapolis Institute of Arts.jpg, ''Two Women'' (c. 1895), oil on canvas, Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis File:Eugène Carrière Girl with her Hair Down Thielska 72.tif, ''Girl with Her Hair Down'' (1900–05), dimensions unknown, Thiel Gallery, Stockholm File:Eugène Carriere, Arsène Carriere, 1899-1900, NGA 177785.jpg, ''Arsène Carriere'' (1899-1900), oil on canvas, 55.56 × 46.36 cm., National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. Prints and graphics File:Eugène Carrière - Newborn in a Bonnet (Le nouveau-né au bonnet - 2009.495 - Cleveland Museum of Art.tif, ''Newborn in a Bonnet'' (1890), lithograph, 25.5 x 19.2 cm., Cleveland Museum of Art File:Eugène Carrière, Alphonse Daudet, 1893, NGA 47651.jpg, ''Alphonse Daudet'' (1893), lithograph, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. File:Carrière - Henri Rochefort, 1949,0411.3187.jpg, ''Henri Rochefort'' (1896), lithograph, British Museum, London File:Carrière - Portrait of Paul Verlaine, 1938.1259.jpg, ''Paul Verlaine'' (1896), lithograph, 52 x 40.6 cm., Cleveland Museum of Art File:Eugène Carrière, Pierre Puvis de Chavannes, 1897, NGA 57947.jpg, ''Puvis de Chavannes'' (1897), lithograph, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. File:Eugène Carrière, Rodin, 1897, NGA 52488.jpg, ''Rodin'' (1897), lithograph, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. File:Eugène Carrière, Sleep, 1897, NGA 5908.jpg, ''Sleep'' (1897), lithograph, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. File:Carrière - Jean Dolent, 1949,0411.3180.jpg, ''Jean Dolent'' (1898), lithograph, 22.9 x 17 cm., British Museum, London File:Eugène Carrière Mlle Marguerite Carrière Singing Thielska 74.tiff, ''Mlle Marguerite Carrière Singing'' (1901), litograph, Thiel Gallery, Stockholm File:L'Aurore-Eugène Carrière.jpg, Poster: ''Literary, Artistic, Aocial Aurore'' (1898), Bibliothèque Nationale de France

References

External links

*
Eugène Carrière: Symbols of Creations Exhibition
at Kent Fine Art, New York
Musée Virtuel Eugène Carrière
*Hollis, Richard

''The Guardian'', August 26, 2006
Paintings at Beauty and Ruin
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carriere, Eugene 1849 births 1906 deaths People from Seine-Saint-Denis Painters from Île-de-France 19th-century French painters French male painters 20th-century French painters 20th-century French male artists French Symbolist painters Burials at Montparnasse Cemetery French art educators French portrait painters 19th-century French male artists

Biography

Style and influence

Selected paintings

See also

References

Further reading

External links