Eugene Carrière

Eugène Carrière (1849-1906) grew up in Strasbourg where he trained as a lithographer. Against his father's advice, he enrolled at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, in Cabanel's studio, and forged his own culture through the observation of nature and visiting museums. Married to Sophie Desmouceaux, with whom he had seven children, he was forced to do various tasks to support his family. He nevertheless exhibited at the Salon: La Jeune Mère (1879), L'Enfant Malade (1885), all domestic symphonies, inspired by the Dutch masters, which earned him the somewhat reductive title of "Painter of Maternities". Noticed by critics, appreciated by collectors such as Moreau-Nélaton, he was introduced to personalities from the literary, artistic and political world whose features he immortalized in penetrating portraits: Verlaine, Gauguin, Daudet, Clemenceau, Rodin, Anatole France, etc. The exhibitions followed one after the other: first personal exhibition in 1891 at Boussod and Valadon, participation in the Universal Exhibitions of 1889 and 1900, Salon de la Libre Esthétique, de l'Art Nouveau at Bing or exhibition in 1896, in the company of Rodin and Puvis de Chavannes.