Public data from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Learn more
About the Artwork
This painting may depict the wife of the artist's close friend, writer Jules Case. In a letter written after her death, Case asked the artist to paint her portrait from an enlarged photograph. "My dear friend," Case wrote, "would you preserve the only face which, from now on, can bring me some little joy, if one can use this word for a sentiment mixed with so much suffering." Carrière emphasized the poetic mood by placing the shadowy figure in a vague, dreamlike space. Known for his evocative paintings of women and children, Eugène Carrière was loosely associated with the French Symbolist movement, which aimed at expressing inner, spiritual life and emotions rather than the outward appearance of physical reality.
Inscriptions
Signed sgraffito into paint at bottom left: Eugène Carrière en toute affection à Jules Case
Provenance
Commissioned by Jules Case, Paris, after the death of his wife, 1900. Brook St. Gallery Ltd., London. Bought by the CMA in 1967.
Exhibition history
Year in Review: 1967. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 29-December 31, 1967). 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).
Quick Overview
- Artist
- Eugène Carrière (French, 1849–1906)
- Date
- after September 1900, probably summer 1901
- Medium
- oil on fabric
- Dimensions
- Unframed: 46.2 x 38.1 cm (18 3/16 x 15 in.)
- Type
- Painting
- Classification
- Painting
- Department
- Modern European Painting and Sculpture
- Credit line
- Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund
- Accession no.
- 1967.126
More by Eugène Carrière in museum collections
Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.
Open-access museum record · AT-00009649
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