Eugène Carrière (french, 1849 – 1906), Edmond de Goncourt, signed lithograph

Eugène Carrière (french, 1849 – 1906)

Edmond de Goncourt , 1896

lithograph

21.25 x 16.38 in. (54 x 41,6 cm.)

Eugène Carrière (1849-1906) was a French Symbolist, Fin de siècle artist. His work is best known for its brown monochrome palette. He was a close friend of the sculptor Rodin and his work influenced Matisse and Picasso (some see traces of Carrière’s monochrome style in Picasso’s Blue period).

Eugene Carriere was a prominent, highly regarded portrait painter and one of the foremost lithographers at the end of the 19th century. Greatly influenced by the paintings of Turner and emulating Leonardo DaVinci’s moody chiaroscuro and softened effects in his work, Carriere often depicted images of family and motherhood. Henri Matisse was one of his students.

In the words of Carriere’s close friend, Auguste Rodin, the esteemed sculptor: “Eugene Carriere showed genius in painting. . . The masters are those . . . who know how to see the beauty of what is too familiar to strike other minds. In most exhibitions most pictures are only painting; {Carriere’s} own seem to be windows open onto life.”