id: 124804
accession number: 1946.283
share license status: CC0
url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1946.283
updated: 2025-02-09 01:11:28.213000
The Contemplator, 1901. Eugène Carrière (French, 1849–1906). Oil on fabric; framed: 47.6 x 57.2 x 5.1 cm (18 3/4 x 22 1/2 x 2 in.); unframed: 33.6 x 41 cm (13 1/4 x 16 1/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, In memory of Ralph King, gift of Mrs. Ralph King; Ralph T. Woods, Charles G. King; and Frances King Schafer 1946.283
title: The Contemplator
title in original language:
series:
series in original language:
creation date: 1901
creation date earliest: 1901
creation date latest: 1901
current location:
creditline: In memory of Ralph King, gift of Mrs. Ralph King; Ralph T. Woods, Charles G. King; and Frances King Schafer
copyright:
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culture: France, late 19th-early 20th Century
technique: oil on fabric
department: Modern European Painting and Sculpture
collection: Mod Euro - Painting 1800-1960
type: Painting
find spot:
catalogue raisonne:
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CREATORS
* Eugène Carrière (French, 1849–1906) - artist
Eugène Carrière grew up in Strasbourg, the sixth of seven children in a working-class family. He attended the city's academy in 1862 and two years later worked as a commercial lithographer. In 1869 Carrière moved to Paris, where he discovered the art of the Old Masters, Rubens in particular, which influenced his decision to become an artist. He entered the École des Beaux-Arts and studied under one of the foremost academic painters, Alexandre Cabanel (1823-1889). His training was suspended, however, with the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War (1870-71). Shortly after enlisting, he was captured by the Germans and taken to Dresden where he was held prisoner for one year. At the end of the war he returned to Paris to resume his studies under Cabanel, and to support himself he worked for a lithographer friend, Jules Chéret (1836-1932). Carrière's painting career took off slowly, and in the Salons of 1876, 1877, and 1878 his paintings received little recognition. In 1878 he married Sophie Desmonceaux (with whom he would have seven children), and the couple spent six months in London where he discovered the works of Turner (q.v.). Back in Paris, he spent the next decade working odd jobs, most often in printshops in order to sustain his family. Through his brother, a ceramist, Carrière began working in 1880 for the Sèvres porcelain factory and there met sculptor Auguste Rodin (1840-1917). This friendly and steady associ-ation inspired each artist's work. In 1879 Carrière had painted his first maternité entitled Jeune mère (Musée Calvet, Avignon), a subject to which he would return throughout his career. His success as a painter began at the Salon of 1884 when his entry received an honorable mention. His good fortune continued with awards at the Salons of 1885 and 1887. Two years later, a medal at the Universal Exposition and the Legion of Honor indicated how well his work was received by critics, artists, and writers. From 1890 through 1897, Carrière lived his most fruitful years as an artist, began making lithographs, and frequently traveled abroad. He was connected with most of the important critics and avant-garde artists of the time, such as Bonnard (q.v.), Gauguin (q.v.), Vuillard (q.v.), Maurice Denis (1870-1943), and Paul Sérusier (1864-1927). He was also admired by the symbolists for the dreamlike quality of his paintings. In 1890 he associated himself with Meissonier (q.v.), Rodin, Félix Bracquemond (1833-1914), and Puvis de Chavannes (q.v.), who founded the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts in opposition to the official system of the Salon des Artistes Français. In 1903, in an effort to oppose restrictive rules of the Société Nationale, Carrière established a new salon, the Salon d'Automne, and was named its president.
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measurements: Framed: 47.6 x 57.2 x 5.1 cm (18 3/4 x 22 1/2 x 2 in.); Unframed: 33.6 x 41 cm (13 1/4 x 16 1/8 in.)
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inscriptions:
inscription: Signed lower right, etched into paint layer, revealing white ground: Eugène Carrière
translation:
remark:
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CURRENT EXHIBITIONS
title: Eugene Carriere Retrospective
opening date: 1968-11-02T05:00:00
Eugene Carriere Retrospective. High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA (November 2, 1968-January 26, 1969); Allentown Art Museum, Allentown, PA (organizer) (November 2, 1968-January 26, 1969); Akron Art Museum, Akron, OH (February 16-August 3, 1969); Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, Legion of Honor, San Francisco, CA (November 15, 1969-January 11, 1970); Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis, MN (February 22-April 5, 1970).
title: Le Symbolisme en Europe (Symbolism in Europe)
opening date: 1975-11-14T05:00:00
Le Symbolisme en Europe (Symbolism in Europe). Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam, Netherlands (organizer) (November 14, 1975-January 11, 1976); Palais des Beaux-Arts, Bruxelles, Belgium (January 23-March 7, 1976); Staatliche Kunsthalle Baden-Baden (March 19-May 6, 1976); Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais, 75008 Paris, France (May 21-July 19, 1976).
title: Eugene Carriere
opening date: 1996-10-18T00:00:00
Eugene Carriere. Musée des Beaux-Arts, Chateau des Rohan, Strasbourg (October 18, 1996-February 9, 1997).
title: European Muses, American Masters: 1870 to 1950
opening date: 2004-06-23T00:00:00
European Muses, American Masters: 1870 to 1950. Portland Museum of Art, Portland, ME (organizer) (June 23-October 17, 2004).
title: Rodin/Carrière, Interferences
opening date: 2006-03-07T00:00:00
Rodin/Carrière, Interferences. National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan (organizer) (March 7-June 4, 2006); Musée d'Orsay, Paris, France (July 10-October 1, 2006).
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LEGACY EXHIBITIONS
* {'description': "On the occasion of the celebration of the centennial of Victor Hugo. Librairie des Éditions d'Art Édouard Pelletan, Paris, France (1902).", 'opening_date': '1902-01-01T00:00:00'}
* {'description': 'Eugène Carrière. École Nationale des Beaux-Arts. Paris, France (1907).', 'opening_date': '1907-01-01T00:00:00'}
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PROVENANCE
Édouard Pelletan [1854-1912], Paris, France
date:
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(Scott & Fowles, New York, NY, sold to Ralph King)
date:
footnotes:
citations:
Ralph King [1855-1926], Cleveland, OH, by gift in his memory from his family to the Cleveland Museum of Art
date: -1946
footnotes:
citations:
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
date: 1946-
footnotes:
citations:
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fun fact:
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RELATED WORKS
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CITATIONS
Carrière, Eugène, and Gabriel Séailles. Exposition de l'œuvre de Eugène Carrière au palais de l'école nationale des beaux-arts, quai malaquais, mai-juin 1907: catalogue des œuvres exposées. Paris, France: Imprimerie Georges Petit, 1907.
page number: Reproduced: no. 207
url:
Francis, Henry S. "Paintings." The Bulletin of The Cleveland Museum of Art XXXIV, no. 2 (February, 1947): 24.
page number: Mentioned: p. 24
url:
Carrière, Jean-René. De la Vie d'Eugène Carrière, souvenirs, lettres, pensées, documents. Toulouse, France: E. Privat, 1966.
page number: Reproduced: p. 229
url:
Allentown Art Museum. Eugène Carrière, 1849-1906, Seer of the Real. Allentown Art Museum, Allentown, PA: 1968.
page number: Reproduced: no. 21
url:
Museum Boymans-Van Beuningen. Le Symbolisme en Europe: [exposition] : Rotterdam, Museum Boymans-Van Beuningen, novembre 1975-janvier 1976, Bruxelles, Musées royaux des beaux-arts de Belgique, janvier-mars 1976, Baden-Baden, Staatliche Kunsthalle, mars-mai 1976, Paris, Grand palais, mai-juillet 1976. Paris, France: Éditions des musées nationaux, 1976.
page number: Reproduced: no. 22
url:
Roberts-Jones, Philippe. Beyond Time and Place: Non-Realist Painting in the Nineteenth Century. Oxford, NY: Oxford University Press, 1978.
page number: Reproduced: p. 138
url:
Bantens, Robert James, and Robert Rosenblum. Eugène Carrière: The Symbol of Creation. New York, NY: Kent Fine Art, 1990.
page number: Mentioned: p. 110-112; Reproduced: p. 1112
url:
Rapetti, Rodolphe, Marie-Jeanne Geyer, and Marie-Pierre Salé. Eugène Carrière, 1849-1906: Musées de Strasbourg, Ancienne douane, 19 octobre 1996-9 février 1997. Paris, France: Editions de la Réunion des musées nationaux, 1996.
page number: Reproduced: no. 68
url:
Bajou-Charpentreau, Valérie. Eugène Carrière: portrait intimiste, 1849-1906. Lausanne, Switzerland: Acatos, 1998.
page number: Reproduced: Detail, p. 154-155; Reproduced: p. 172-173
url:
D'Argencourt, Louise and Roger Diederen. The Cleveland Museum of Art: Catalogue of Paintings, Part Four: European Paintings of the 19th Century. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1999
page number: Reproduced: p. 40
url:
Klimt, Andreas, and Michael Steppes. Allgemeines Künstlerlexikon: bio-bibliographischer Index A-Z = The artists of the world : bio-bibliographical index A-Z. München, Germany: K.G. Saur, 1999.
page number: Reproduced: p. 608
url:
Klimt, Andreas, and Michael Steppes. Allgemeines Künstlerlexikon: bio-bibliographischer Index A-Z = The artists of the world : bio-bibliographical index A-Z. München, Germany: K.G. Saur, 1999.
page number: Mentioned: p. 16, 608
url:
Wissman, Fronia E., and Carrie Haslett. European Muses, American Masters, 1870-1950. Portland, ME: Portland Museum of Art, 2004.
page number: Reproduced: p. 852
url:
Buley-Uribe, Christina. Auguste Rodin, Eugène Carrière. Paris, France: Flammarion, 2006.
page number: Mentioned: p. 41; Reproduced: p. 1119
url:
Nora-Milin, Véronique, Alice Lamarre,and Rodolphe Rapetti. Eugène Carrière, 1849-1906: catalogue raisonné de l'œuvre peint. Paris, France: Gallimard, 2008.
page number: Reproduced: p. 321
url:
Bergez, Daniel, and Kate Deimling. Painting the Dream: From the Biblical Dream to Surrealism. New York; London: Abbeville Press Publishers, 2018.
page number: Reproduced: P. 128, no. 94
url:
Bergez, Daniel. Peindre le rêve: des rêves bibliques au surréalisme. Paris : Réunion des musées nationaux-Grand Palais, 2016.
page number: Reproduced: 99, 128; Mentioned: 128-130.
url:
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IMAGES
web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1946.283/1946.283_web.jpg
print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1946.283/1946.283_print.jpg
full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1946.283/1946.283_full.tif